What will be the biggest surprise or the soccer world cup this year?

Already in Oct 2022 I noticed the complete absence of solar panels, windmills or electric vehicles in the Naples area, even though it should have plenty of renewables potential

👌👌👌👌

Now everyone is (rightly) all aerated about the nudity AI shit on X, can we please do something to stop the Pervert Glasses that will soon be in wide circulation?

Study finds potential link between high-fat cheese and lower risk of dementia A study out of Sweden has looked at the possible link between eating more high-fat cheese, like cheddar, gouda and brie, and a lower risk of developing dementia.

me: Nutrition research is often quite lacking in its methods but at the same time the world leader in meme virality, by regularly uncovering things we want to be true to feel better about the food identity we have developed.

also me: this study must be true.

www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic...

Zelfs nu je weer met de auto langs Gentbrugge-brug kan rijden, is het nog altijd voor minstens 70 % van Destelbergen voor 95% van de tijd sneller om via de R4 en de E17 naar 90% van Gentbrugge te rijden.

The choice EU leaders face today is not the reparations loan vs. "Eurobonds". The choice is agreeing on a workable solution that rapidly gives a lot of money to Ukraine vs. going back to the drawing board with no clear idea where to go next while Ukraine's money is running out.

Should be obvious.

Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan?

It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way.

But there isn't. Here is why:

I have long thought the EU simplification fervour was a side show.

Happy to see Jeromin Zettelmeyer and Erik Nielsen forcefully agree.

Where’s the overwhelming evidence that EU red tape is thé key barrier to economic growth in the EU or Germany?

1/

Belgium’s De Wever dials up opposition to Russian frozen assets deal The prime minister’s strongly worded intervention dashes EU hopes that a breakthrough on sending assets held in Belgium to Ukraine could be imminent.

Bart De Wever is not the responsible leader he pretends to be

On the use of Russian assets, he continues adding demands and inventing new excuses for not accepting

While his point was legitimate in the beginning, he's now becoming a liability for Europe's security

www.politico.eu/article/russ...

It's time to remove laptops from classrooms.

24 experiments: Students learn more and get better grades after taking notes by hand than typing. It's not just because they're less distracted—writing enables deeper processing and more images.

The pen is mightier than the keyboard.

Trigger warning.

“In crashes, SUVs are more likely to strike vital organs in the core of adults’ bodies & heads of children. Hitting pedestrians above their center of gravity means they’re more likely to be knocked forward & down and then be driven over.”

Plus more likely to hit in the 1st place.

The cable news-ification of everything New research shows how incentives in the modern media ecosystem help explain rising polarisation and negativity

on.ft.com/3LqC6y6 The cable news-ification of everything

I'm still reading, at page 547 now, but I should have stopped at p. 106

By focusing the political debate on the wrong issue, Europe’s car industry may well turn into the next industrial policy train wreck.

The real risk is a costly muddle of regulatory rollbacks, bailouts, and a patch work of national subsidies - only for the sector to slow-walk into oblivion anyway

Zag ze enkele maanden geleden live in Londen en... meh 🤷‍♂️. Wel fan van hun muziek voor de rest

Een btw-verlaging is een groter cadeau in euro's aan de rijkeren dan aan de armeren in de samenleving. Een verhoging omgekeerd. Dus als je een specifiek bedrag moet besparen, is een btw-verhoging een "socialere" besparing dan vele andere.

3) in het specifieke geval van een btw-verhoging (of -verlaging), is een uitdrukking in euro's, of in procent van de begrotingsinspanning, wel degelijk relevanter dan het principe van de regressiviteit van de btw op zich. Je moet het plaatje in zijn geheel zien. 1/2

2) België haalt relatief gezien weinig inkomsten uit btw. Andere landen die er meer inkomsten uithalen, zijn niet bepaald "rechtsere" landen

Ik zeg ook niet dat het niet waar is dat een btw in se regressief is. Maar dat is slechts één aspect van het verhaal. 1) uitgaven komen grosso modo meer ten goede aan arme mensen dan aan rijke. Dus een btw-verhoging die een daling aan uitgaven voorkomt, kan sociaal zijn.

Er zijn hier wel wat argumenten tegen te bedenken. In tegenstelling tot veel andere begrotingsalternatieven, bv besparingen op de sociale zekerheid, zal de begrotingsinspanning bij een btw-verhoging per definitie vooral bekostigd worden door de rijkere medeburger, aangezien die veel meer uitgeeft.

“Brussels” is the phantom menace Europe loves to blame Why bashing the EU is likely to become ever more popular

'Politicians decry decisions made by the EU as if they were edicts handed down by some foreign power. But given that national governments form the backbone of the EU, “blaming Brussels” is akin to a ventriloquist haranguing his own puppet for being foul-mouthed'
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

Congratulations! Please keep the tax ramblings coming, always very informative.

They always start by saying it's legitimate to be concerned about flows, but ultimately the rage is about the stock. Think I've first said this as a silly quip ten years ago, and well, here we are

Children are ***82%*** more likely to be killed when hit by an SUV than by a regular passenger car.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Zou me toch niet verbazen als je na zo'n operatie een verbeten trekje in de ogen krijgt.

New paper looking at health (mortality), education and earnings stagnation in the US through a cohort perspective. Somehow things really stop improving from the 1947 birth cohort onwards www.aeaweb.org/research/cha...

Tekst

Tekst

Tekst

Amai. @ec.europa.eu over Belgisch beleid, incl. energie.
Je zult maar energieminister zijn en dit in je mailbox krijgen.

commission.europa.eu/document/dow...

IGUDESMAN & JOO - Rachmaninov had big Hands YouTube video by byseb

youtu.be/ifKKlhYF53w?...