The way you write it makes me think of CCP neighbourhood informants

U rock mate. I personally know many people in academia who are too afraid to keep institutions accountable for their own careers or wtv.

I really enjoyed a bunch of this stuff you've written. I didn't know I could get so excited about rail analysis.

Just wanted to say your bullshit meter articles are pretty cool. Rail news can be pretty exciting and it's great that you give a plausibility answer.

Cool comments on Romania tho :)

I don't know the technicalities but it happens in restaurants all the time in Portugal. They tell you "thank you" if you don't ask for a tax receipt

The leader of LVMH is a strong sponsor of far-right ideals in the media and I think also with party financing. And that goes back years if not decades?

This too ofc. Unfortunately it's also possible with card payments

Then it makes me wonder about all the fuss with ND and how competent he was seen to be at Buchrst.
Was it the diff. between a democratic defender and someone who might be able to rule from the presdcy?
In Portugal we also have a semi pres. system,but it's parliamentary w/ pres. veto(50%+1 override)

I find the constitutional framework in Romania confusing. How does the president compare to the French president? Doesn't usually have a governing majority in parliament I guess?

I just realised that the dispersed nature of the treaties makes it potentially confusing for citizens to understand how the union works? To know what is in legal effect you have to consult different documents to see what has and hasn't been amended right?

I once walked 10 mins each way(20 total) to get cash from an atm. And I was at a popular noodles place lol. Made me think of the price/risk of security for cash,money/time wasted on handling cash, customers lost. It's hilarious. Compare that to the small fees they have to pay for cards.

I wonder if you would expand on rules not being followed and so on?
I know mogherini is being investigated for corruption.

Wishing you the best Jon. You've spiked my interest in trains.

There is reason to believe this time is different given they have an absolute majority in parliament? Hopefully they do some stupid corrupt shit or something and people revolt

It's crucial for Ukraine's allies to be aware of the real state of Russia's economy. It's part of the information war going on. Simple. If Russia is seen as weaker then Ukraine will be more supported.

I expect Taiwan would present a very hard obstacle, but the lack of overt USA support could lead to Xi making a stupid decision.. I hope Ukraine turning the tide and resisting ever more impressively might dissuade him.
I can imagine Ukraine being a crucial partner for Taiwan in an invasion.

The point prof. Seva makes about miscalculation based on a sycophantic information environment is the one thing that worries me.

Anyone with a big picture view could have seen Putin was making a big mistake, but he didn't have that reliable information..

Does it seem like there has been more indirect criticism of Putin recently? Did you see the piece about Orbán staying in power for very long and that being why he lost - according to the pro-kremlin newspaper? I found that very interesting - via Steve Rosenberg

Nice gif haha

It's bizarre that corruption protests led to this.. I wonder why the reformist coalition failed to use that momentum. Also how do Bulgarians not see the contradiction between being pro-russia and anti-corruption efforts? The decisions of the ordinary voter are so often strange .

No coalition necessary apparently

What would those power grabs be summarised?

Like change the topic because it wasn't gonna be relevant anymore

The way parliament is divided in Bulgaria makes for some really bizarre coalitions like the one the reformists already participated in.

I think there is an alternative: societal stagnation on all levels.
On the law and priorities point it just wouldn't work given the geography. On many things the EU sets the regulations for the world because they tend to be the highest

I was too young to follow the EU constitution proposal and it is interesting to ponder what could have been? How might things be very similar or quite different actually

I'm absolutely in favour of the UK rejoining with the caveat of: good faith. That is the one and only worry I think. We need more and more political integration.

Btw do you ever think about when the next EU treaty will happen? It will be the 20 year anniversary of the Lisbon treaty in 2027!!!

What are your views on how this differs from Bulgaria's situation over the decades? Certainly they don't have a presidential system so executive power is less stable. They also seem to have an unusually large amount of shitty parties to choose from

Jeez I hadn't heart about police running away. That's like the cowards in Texas to give an unsurprising USA comparison