I am still taking a break from social media, but I did find time last week to send a letter to the New Statesman:

Individually you are all lovely, but I am tired of social media and taking a break from it. Back in a while

A perfect example of Trump sanewashing here:

He posts a deranged, extremely racist rant about sending ICE into airports to catch Somalis

It is reported as a sensible move aimed at reducing queues, with a reasonable-sounding quote from him

The word Somali does not even appear in the article

It also conveniently lets them off the hook for bothering to do anything about climate change now

March, 19-21: God is a comedian A stiff drink is recommended

This is an excellent summary of the US War on Iran current situation.

I’m an existentialist and borderline absurdist and even I struggle with the current moment.

This summary is just fantastic.

If you have kids then this is a very good way to spend a couple of hours - funny and original and not a superhero sequel

(For some reason it’s called Jumpers in some countries)

I love the BBC but goddamn they make it hard sometimes

Trump says ICE agents will assist TSA agents with airport security as DHS shutdown continues Travellers have faced hours-long waits at airports around the country as a partial government shutdown has left TSA agents without pay.

truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

www.bbc.com/news/article...

A perfect example of Trump sanewashing here:

He posts a deranged, extremely racist rant about sending ICE into airports to catch Somalis

It is reported as a sensible move aimed at reducing queues, with a reasonable-sounding quote from him

The word Somali does not even appear in the article

Leider, baas, SG, topman, chief… gebruik gerust de afkortingen die je wilt, we weten allemaal wat zijn werk is.

(Het laatste punt hier is het punt waar we het over hebben)

Good morning from the Frisian Islands

Yes, this is a good point

This is a common view but I don’t think it’s right, actually. I think Rutte cares about NATO and wants it to thrive. He wants Ukraine to survive. He wants to defeat Putin (and was PM during MH17). It’s just that his choice of response is horribly misguided. He has not read the (global) room

Yep. For a while it seemed maybe necessary to build up some credit, but now it feels like the worse Trump gets the more Rutte apologizes for him

ja, dit

Het gaat niet om mijn begrip, maar om de vraag of de leider van een alliantie zo extreem pro-een van de leden zou moeten zijn.

Final thought: my guess is that it might actually go better for Rutte if he showed some backbone. Trump likes to dominate, but even he has the nous to tell when someone’s pathetically subservient. He likes a winner, not a suckup. And globally, Rutte would get more respect if he wasn’t a MAGA stooge

unforgivable things like threatening to invade Denmark; and seems to view the SG’s role as being a political shield for the US president. It’s not dealmaking, it’s subservience. And both Rutte and NATO look weaker as a result

Opinion | Is a No-Nonsense Dutchman Just What NATO Needs? (Published 2024)

When Rutte got the job I said his coalition-building and negotiating skills might prove a great asset. But unfortunately there doesn’t seem to have been much negotiation at all. He reflexively agrees with everything Trump says and does, even

www.nytimes.com/2024/10/01/o...

Rutte is such a disappointment

He was hired to hold NATO together, yes. But there are ways to do that without without constantly groveling at Trump’s feet, praising every fuckup as a masterful gambit and sucking his toes while the world burns

At this point he’s a MAGA ambassador to cable news

You seem to be conflating a handful of different issues here. I’m not sure it’s worth going into detail over in the replies on a Sunday. But I’m afraid “the Home Office have handled this well and there is no problem apart from the BBC reporting” is… an *unusual* take

Good morning from the Frisian Islands

When I went a few weeks ago they were checking carefully at the border, asking lots of questions. Some people who desperately need to go are unable to. So I’m not sure it’s a case of “just go, it’ll be fine!”
Also the issue is not just the rule but how quickly it changed, with terrible information

Terschelling is next on my list!

Media interest was fleeting but the UK dual nationality issues are still a thing

I have a UK passport which expired; I’m waiting for a new one

I have a valid EU passport which lets me go anywhere. Holiday in Canada, job in Lisbon, weekend in Goa, whatever

But I cannot step into the UK, at all

Visiting the Frisian / Wadden islands is always such a treat. Lovely food, nice people, some of the best beaches in Europe. Highly recommended.

This is good.

You cannot complain that refugees don’t assimilate properly and always hang around outside etc while also making it impossible for them to have a job!

Whatever your politics, whatever else you think of him, Trump is just so transparently an awful, dreadful person

This last point is crucial. People complain about Badenoch etc being twitter-brained, but the discourse on here is focused on very online European/American men analyzing what Trump just did or Macron just said. There seems to be v little on art, history, architecture, travel, even books or sport