Plants in containers surround a conservatory and a view takes one's attention down the garden where two ladies are chatting over coffee.

A garden painting with my old green bike, a couple of friends chatting and some of the usual clutter to be seen through the glass of the conservatory. Oil on board. I don't like the white aluminium conservatory so I hung lengths of ivy down it to break up the lines.

Can participatory budgeting build government legitimacy and increase tax revenues in weak states? Evidence from Sierra Leone shows that digital participatory budgeting can increase government legitimacy in weak states but only increases tax compliance for supporters of the incumbent government.

Governments in low-income countries often struggle to raise enough taxes to fund development.

In this @voxdev.bsky.social article @nmeriggi.bsky.social & co-authors explore if getting citizens involved in budget decisions can help in Sierra Leone.

We really need to stop talking about this as some kind of looming threat rather than a process well underway. It’s not “close.” You have arrived at your destination. The order has been delivered.

"They’re taking Shirly": An Army sergeant thought his family as safe. Then ICE deported his wife. For tens of thousands of US service members with undocumented family members, there’s no guaranteed protection from immigration raids.

"They’re taking Shirly": An Army sergeant thought his family was safe. Then ICE deported his wife. [Published with our friends @thewarhorsenews.bsky.social]

Why a professor of fascism left the US: ‘The lesson of 1933 is – you get out’ Marci Shore made news around the world when her family moved to Canada. She discusses Trump, teaching history and how terror atomises society

LOL! The real lesson of 1939 is that, if you get out, don't get out to a neighboring country.

We are Nobel laureates, scientists, writers and artists. The threat of fascism is back | Open letter As in 1925, when Mussolini was in power, we must openly defy the brutal imposition of the fascist ideology

Although not happy with the use of the "F-word", and a skeptic of "open letters" and "petitions," I decided to sign this particular open letter, as I do think it has an important message.

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This looks like an 80s comedy where John Belushi & some stoners steal a tank for shits & giggles

The squeaky tanks driving past quiet, empty stands is amazing

Turns out my talk at @renner-institut.at on the situation in the U.S., and the lessons for Europe, is also online. 👇

Rethinking the Far Right Date: Tue, 10.06.2025 18:00

You can now watch my lecture "Rethinking the Far Right" on the @iwm.at YouTube channel. Hope it explains and empowers.

Today they have crossed a deep red line.

We, the people, must hold the president and his appointees accountable for this outrageous abuse against American liberty.

U.S.-born American citizen under ICE hold in Florida after driving from Georgia Juan Carlos Gomez-Lopez is being held even though a county judge found his birth certificate “authentic” and said there wasn’t reason to consider him an “illegal alien.”

How is it possible U.S. citizens are being held as illegal aliens in America even after they produce their birth certificate? This is intolerable. www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/...

Sign: IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? Books include: Erasing History, Autocracy, Inc, Fascism: A Warning, How Democracies Die

Sign: IS THIS JUST FANTASY? Books include; It Can’t Happen Here, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, The Handmaid’s Tale

Barnes & Noble in Georgetown with a stark “Bohemian Rhapsody”-referencing book display this weekend.

Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams book cover

This is already a fascinating read. Pick up a copy.

Thank you Gerry!

Exclusive: Trump plans to revoke legal status of Ukrainians who fled to US, sources say U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast-track to deportation.

Trump planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled Russia's atrocity-ridden invasion.
Reuters: www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

China vows it will ‘fight to the end’ with US in trade war – or any other war Wolf warrior-style comments mark China’s strongest rhetoric on US president Donald Trump since he entered the White House China’s ministry of foreign affairs has promised that China will “fight to the end” with the US in a “tariff war, trade war or any…

China vows it will ‘fight to the end’ with US in trade war – or any other war

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice Photographer captures 20-minute clash between birds emblematic of Canada and US amid high political tensions For the second time in weeks, a Canadian icon has emerged as the unlikely victor in an existential battle on the ice. Mervyn Sequeira, an…

Canada goose fights off bald eagle in rare, symbolism-laden battle on ice

Let this sink in.

Are you a scientist — or do you know someone — with federal funding who is making serious plans to leave the US so you can continue your research?

I'd love to talk with you for a story I'm working on.

I can guarantee you anonymity. Contact me securely on Signal: 3162958947

Right‐wing extremism analyzed Abstract. The so-called ‘third wave’ of right-wing extremism has taken both society and social science by storm. In contrast to the many studies that look for possible explanations for the success o....

Almost 30 years to the day, I published my first "major" academic article. It was an English language summary of my Dutch language M.A. thesis.

A short thread on how it came about. 🧵

America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla Surprise! The madman stuff wasn’t an act

I borrowed this metaphor, but I don't know from where paulkrugman.substack.com/p/america-is...

Steve Levitsky gives the canonical answer about whether defending democracy is the right answer electorally for Democrats - that can't be the question. *Society* has to defend democracy and the Constitution, or they could cease to exist. nymag.com/intelligence...

Steve Levitsky on how unprecedented the concentration of power in Musk is - "at least in democracies, I’ve never seen a concentration of political, economic, and media power as vast as this," only comparison is "old-fashioned dictatorships"

These business leaders are the economic equivalent of the fools who promised everything would be fine when Trump tried to overturn an election he lost

WTF. Weather prediction is essential to aviation, agriculture, emergency/disaster management, and so many other vital activities. Insanely reckless.

And it is *possible* for the opposition to win in competitive authoritarian systems, particularly unconsolidated and semi-consolidated ones.