"It's clear that there's a rampant dumbing down in progress in which not knowing things is considered a virtue. I don't throw my hands up in despair, but I do try to indicate that it's a very serious problem." — Carl Sagan

"Violence finds its only refuge in falsehood, falsehood its only support in violence... Any man who has once acclaimed violence as his method must inexorably choose falsehood as his principle." — Alexander Solzhenitsyn

🥵 3 years in a row of +1.5°C. 📢 We will never stop saying it: we need climate action now. ❌ We need to phase out fossil fuels. ☀️ We need 90% renewable energy by 2040 (at least). 🏡 We need to renovate houses and buildings to adapt them to the current situation.

For decades, rather than prioritising domestic investment in its technology sector, the UK has largely opted for the easier route: relying on US technology We take a look at how dangerous this is now, in a special report on national security 👇 Read here: www.thenational.scot/news/2...

ANNOUNCEMENT: The next #REvaluation27 Conference will be held 25-26 Feb 2027 at the @hcw.ac.at, co-organised by @fteval.bsky.social with @forwit.at, @fraunhoferisi.bsky.social & @mioir.bsky.social. Save the date for THE conference for #research, #technology, #innovation policy & #evaluation!

Don’t look up….

A coalition of left parties has launched a call for signatures to force the European Commission to suspend the EU’s association agreement with Israel over Gaza.

There are going to be so many papers retracted because the authors didn’t read this piece by @causalinf.bsky.social before they started working with Claude Code.

Sobering piece on the Berlin power outage showing resilience is tricky - People had cars trapped behind electrically operated garage doors. First day alerts sent to people’s phones ‘which included links to websites that were impossible to access without the internet.’ www.ft.com/content/c91d...

You can judge a person by the size of their moral circle. Trump, for instance, has the smallest possible moral circle, containing only him. Be the opposite: expand your circle. Include, for example, animals currently raised for food. We shut them out of our consciences. It's time to bring them in.

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today. This could be you.

Enter 2026; where a lawless international order is being determined by the United States. Looking forward to strong condemnations by our European leaders.

From the team #dotScot and #dotcodotscot Thanks for all your support 2025 and here’s to 2026! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌍🌏🌎🕸 Special shout out to @streetlibrary.ataxia.scot for allowing us to play a small part in all the great work you do #sponsors

UK (Scotland), Find Out Now poll: Scenario: Nigel Farage (REFORM~NI) is UK Prime Minister Independence referendum Yes: 61% No: 39% Fieldwork: 11-19 December 2025 Sample size: 1,000 ➤ europeelects.eu/uk

Time the European Commission got serious - tax planes and airports and use revenue to invest in rail !

One for your travels 2026 #Forres #Moray #Scotland #dotScot @thegreenplace.bsky.social visitforres.scot

Thick as mince and thick as thieves. A column about the absolute idiots European legislators have made of themselves over the naming of food, at the behest of meat lobbyists. You laugh and then you weep. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Just published! Our new article in Science and Public Policy: “How do mission-oriented innovation policies work? A theory of action derived from the EU missions url: academic.oup.com/spp/article-... Our key contribution: a theory of action that explains how #MOIP generate systemic change.

If European Digital Sovereignty is to mean anything, it ought to mean NOT posting on a platform owned and run by a fascist intent on undermining the EU! And don't give me the bullshit you have to be there for "balance" or "reach" - the rules are stacked against you from the outset

Paul McCartney has joined forces with U.K. MPs who are urging Brussels to scrap any plans to ban the use of meat-related names such as “burger” and “sausage” for plant-based products.

The Chihuahua-In-Chief’s attempt to start a culture war in Glasgow, over beautiful & smart bi- or multi-lingual kids, is doomed—not least because we already accept the condition for Gaelic (& Scots). & AI just translates everything…My @ScotNational column www.thenational.scot/politics/256...

Nous étions des dizaines d'eurodéputés à écrire aux organisateurs de l' #Eurovision pour demander l'exclusion d'Israël. Leur participation a été une nouvelle fois maintenue malgré le génocide 👉Je salue 🇪🇸,🇸🇮,🇳🇱 & 🇮🇪 qui ont fait le choix du #boycott. @rtbf.be & @vrtnws.be, c'est votre tour! #NoImpunity

1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

An excellent piece on the launch of the new domain for #Scotland .co.scot Particularly grateful that the article foregrounds the Scottish #diaspora as ‘a domain for the worldwide community of Scots’ was such a big part of the #dotScot idea in the first place 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌏🌎🌍🕸 www.sentinel.scot/blog/new-co-...

If we surrender our standards, we surrender our sovereignty. If we give in to populism, we do not regain control, we lose it. A democratic, green, social and competitive Europe is not only possible. It is necessary. 3/3

European Innovation Scoreboard 2025 Explained: Bridging Data and Policy. A podcast that sits right at the crossroads of evidence and strategy in European research. We talk a lot about innovation, but do we understand the numbers we rely on to judge how well we’re doing? pod.co/the-insider/...

The votes are in: the Christian Democrats @eppgroup.bsky.social openly chose the far-right over children's rights & nature protection today. This is a bad day for Europe & the values we stand for. We will keep fighting for #HumanRights, #ClimateJustice & the future our children deserve. #omnibus

This is a scorching article on the absolute state of The New York Times, and much of the rest of the media. Not just the billionaire media, note, but also the billionaire-*compliant* media, which both-sides every issue with purchased junktank talking points. lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...

At one level today has been professionally good - it's rare to be quoted in FT www.ft.com/content/1405... and The Guardian www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n... But the Commission's high speed rail plan leaves me rather unimpressed - and I'm the only one daring say so jonworth.eu/when-a-plans...

Watching the magnificent Catherine Connolly, and considering her radical predecessors as Irish Presidents, makes you dream fondly of a Scottish President in a Scottish republic. But can we unplug from the Windsors as Head of State? My @ScotNational col www.thenational.scot/politics/255...

After the earth dies, some 5 billion years from now, after it's burned to a crisp, or even swallowed by the Sun, there will be other worlds and stars and galaxies coming into being -- and they will know nothing of a place once called Earth. ― Carl Sagan

Shape the Future of #EUMissions The European Commission is conducting a 2026 Assessment of EU Missions ! Share your thoughts on how Missions engage with citizens and stakeholders by participating in a short survey. 🔗 ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/run... ⏱️ Takes just 5-10 minutes 📅 Deadline: 31 October 2025

UK (Scotland), Norstat poll: Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes: 53% (-1) No: 47% (+1) +/- vs. 27-30 May 2025 Fieldwork: 22-25 September 2025 Sample size: 1,010 ➤ https://europeelects.eu/uk

Pendant que vous êtes en vacances, l'UE démantèle les protections environnementales 🏖️➡️💔 Vous avez jusqu'au 10 septembre pour dire à la Commission ce que vous pensez. Votre voix compte : www.natagora.be/Handsoffnatu...

Joint statement on behalf of 27 partners on humanitarian aid to Gaza and restrictions facing NGOs. Read here: europa.eu/!fKHMD6

270 journalistes morts. A l'initiative de Lynn Boylan, nous adressons un courrier à @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @kajakallas.bsky.social et @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu. Le meurtre de 6 journalistes et staff d' @aljazeera.com exige une réaction ferme de l'UE et des sanctions.

If Keir Starmer wants a positive relationship with the Scottish Government, he needs to get his Environment Secretary to retract his totally inaccurate comments about Scotland’s water. Our rivers are cleaner, our bills are lower - and public ownership delivers for people, not profit. 👇

Funny. I would have expected the "Free Speech Union" and the other self-proclaimed defenders of free expression to be all over this. But 🦗🦗🦗 How strange. www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-arre...

Parliament will vote TODAY on proscribing Palestine Action as a TERRORIST ORGANISATION like ISIS. Can we get to 100,000 signatures against before the day is over? palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/NoProscription

Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...

Well said 👏

🌳 Une fois de plus, la droite conservatrice (PPE) et l’extrême droite s’allient pour saboter le #PacteVert. Aujourd’hui, ils ont voté contre l’acte d’exécution du règlement #DéforestationImportée ⚠️ J’ai saisi la @EU_Commission pour protéger ce texte essentiel. Nous ne céderons pas. #RDUE #justice

How many countries does Israel have to bomb before Europe stops cooperating with the terrorist Israeli state ? @ec.europa.eu @euparliament.bsky.social @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu

Barely fresher than a lettuce…hopeless, unprincipled, zero credibility.

There's your answer.

They were terrorists too, were they?

Israeli government ministers and officials told us exactly what they intended to do in #Gaza, then went ahead and did it. There will be no justice until they are brought before the ICC to face charges of genocide.

“The difference between liberal and populist parties should be that liberal parties treat human rights seriously,” Rydlinski says. “Research shows that when liberal and left-wing parties accommodate far-right issues, they do not win populist voters, but lose their own.” What research you say?...

Cycling isn’t just good for your health – It’s good for the planet, our cities, and the economy. ✔️ Over 92,000 km of EuroVelo cycling routes across Europe ✔️ Nearly 10 million bicycles produced yearly in the EU ✔️ 1.35 million jobs supported by the EU cycling sector