akshay - Network

“If there is a useful and relevant political science literature on the processes through which random social media memes are becoming the...

“If there is a useful and relevant political science literature on the processes through which random social media memes are becoming the basis for dramatic changes in U.S. governmental structures and policies, I’d love to see it.”

- @himself.bsky.social reviews Chris Hayes’ new book on our dysfunctional attention economy

https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-attention-economy-is-devouring

#SocialMedia #Media #USPol #PoliticalScience #Sociology #Online #Economics

@EUCommission is consulting on the State Aid framework accompanying the Clean Industrial Deal.It would simplify state aid rules to support...

@EUCommission is consulting on the State Aid framework accompanying the Clean Industrial Deal.

It would simplify state aid rules to support renewables, industrial decarbonisation, and clean tech.

Won’t make the news, every civil servant will tell you this stuff is important.

https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/public-consultations/2025-cisaf_en

#Climate #ClimatePolicy #Industry #IndustrialPolicy #EU

DOGE might cancel the lease of the Mauna Loa office which is the birthplace of greenhouse gas monitoring, home of the Keeling Curve....

DOGE might cancel the lease of the Mauna Loa office which is the birthplace of greenhouse gas monitoring, home of the Keeling Curve.

https://energynews.oedigital.com/pollution/2025/03/11/trump-targets-worldleading-greenhouse-gases-observatory-in-hawaii

#Trump #USPol #Hawaii #Climate #ClimateScience #DOGE #Science

“Domestic terrorism”, or how I’m starting to turn into Calvin’s dad #Trump #Musk #Tesla #Capitalism #DomesticTerrorism

“Domestic terrorism”, or how I’m starting to turn into Calvin’s dad

#Trump #Musk #Tesla #Capitalism #DomesticTerrorism

Ik krijg de indruk dat de Tweede Kamer principieel tegen Europese militair-economische integratie is.Hoe willen ze het dan doen?27...

Ik krijg de indruk dat de Tweede Kamer principieel tegen Europese militair-economische integratie is.

Hoe willen ze het dan doen?

27 legertjes, met 27 soorten tanks en vliegtuigen, en 27 types munitie? Rekenen op Amerikaanse wijsheid, sturing en coördinatie?

Als je een gezamenlijk lange termijn project op giga-schaal hebt, moet dat gezamenlijk worden bekostigd en gedekt. Linksom of rechtsom.

En landen betalen heus wel: ze willen niet dood.

#TweedeKamer #EU #Nederland #Politiek #Defensie

Pet Peeve/hobby horse: The actual economic model for climate change decisionmaking would be a bounded rationality model, in the old school...

Pet Peeve/hobby horse: The actual economic model for climate change decisionmaking would be a bounded rationality model, in the old school Herbert Simon sense, not the watered down modern sense, not cost-benefit optimisation.

Don’t assume a utility function or full knowledge of trade-offs, or even quantifiable probability.

Now use reason to formulate options which are minimally acceptable to society and avoid extreme regret.

#Economics

Climate Change a mere “side effect” and a “trade-off” of fossil fuel awesomeness, says Trump admin.This takes me back 25 years, when...

Climate Change a mere “side effect” and a “trade-off” of fossil fuel awesomeness, says Trump admin.

This takes me back 25 years, when economic models(*) used to calculate the “optimal trade-off” was to cause more climate change than had occurred since the ice age.

Of course there are “trade-offs”, but they involve catastrophic risks!

(*) which won the Nobel Prize in economics

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/10/chris-wright-climate-fossil-fuels

#Climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimatePolicy #Economics #ClimateScience #FossilFuels

Interesting overview of German future coalition positions on Climate, by @euractiv...

Interesting overview of German future coalition positions on Climate, by @euractiv

https://www.euractiv.com/section/eet/news/future-german-coalitions-climate-pledge-is-firm-but-unspecific/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=dlvr.it

#Climate #ClimatePolicy #Germany #Deutschland #GroKo #Klima

“Stop funding Rwanda!”A small group of Congolese protesters in Brussels is quite rightly angry at the new war.Judging from Kallas’...

“Stop funding Rwanda!”

A small group of Congolese protesters in Brussels is quite rightly angry at the new war.

Judging from Kallas’ words, the EU foreign ministers also agree they need to pressure Rwanda.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2025/01/25/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-statement-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-on-the-latest-escalation-in-eastern-drc/

#Rwanda #Congo #EU

Far-Right Polish and Hungarian think-tanks pitching destroying the EU to the Heritage Foundation.They want US money, I’m sure.In the...

Far-Right Polish and Hungarian think-tanks pitching destroying the EU to the Heritage Foundation.

They want US money, I’m sure.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders gets American oligarch money for “giving speeches”, i.e. being racist towards Muslims and genocidal towards Palestinians.

It ain’t just Russian money corrupting EU politics.

https://vsquare.org/heritage-foundation-mcc-ordo-iuris-russia-european-union-european-court-of-justice/

#USA #FarRight #EU #Europe #Nederland #Netherlands #Hungary #Poland

“…préparer la France à un réchauffement pouvant atteindre 4°C degrés: le gouvernement présente lundi son…troisième plan...

“…préparer la France à un réchauffement pouvant atteindre 4°C degrés:

le gouvernement présente lundi son…troisième plan national d'adaptation au changement climatique (PNACC), jugé insuffisant par certains observateurs.”

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/40c-en-2100-en-france-le-plan-national-d-adaptation-au-changement-climatique-lance-lundi-20250310

#Climat #France #Adaptation #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimatePolicy

USA rejects UN sustainable development goals: The U.N. includes countries which aren’t the US, and the goals include banned words, like...

USA rejects UN sustainable development goals:

The U.N. includes countries which aren’t the US, and the goals include banned words, like “gender”, “equality” and “climate change”.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11072215/trump-administration-rejects-un-global-goals-2030/

#USPol #USA #UN #sustainability #development #poverty #environment

Why cutting red tape needn’t cut red tape: you can’t just have zero rules so you’ll end up with a mess of different rules.OTOH, I...

Why cutting red tape needn’t cut red tape: you can’t just have zero rules so you’ll end up with a mess of different rules.

OTOH, I guess you could abolish Rule of Law altogether and go for pure corruption, but administering that much corruption will create its own bureaucracy

https://grist.org/regulation/trump-white-house-council-environmental-quality-nepa-permitting/

#Environment #Policy #Government #Law #USPol #FarRight #Trump #EPA #Governance

Europeans subtweeting:“I want to be very clear that Europe will stay open, will stand for partnership and outreach. And we offer stability...

Europeans subtweeting:

“I want to be very clear that Europe will stay open, will stand for partnership and outreach. And we offer stability and predictability – valuable features in these times.”

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_25_721

#EU #Europe #HeWhoMustNotBeNamed

Lahemaa National Park, a bog near Tallinn, Estonia#Landscape #Photography #Travel #Estonia #Baltics #Wetland #SilentSunday

Lahemaa National Park, a bog near Tallinn, Estonia

#Landscape #Photography #Travel #Estonia #Baltics #Wetland #SilentSunday

Sudan gets even worse due to USAID stop:‘He noted that ERRs are reaching out to the European Union, as well as UN agencies, to try and...

Sudan gets even worse due to USAID stop:

‘He noted that ERRs are reaching out to the European Union, as well as UN agencies, to try and fill the gap left behind by USAID. If nobody steps up, Kuka warned that hundreds of thousands of people will starve and die from malnutrition-related diseases.

“We are speaking about 1.8 million people who benefit from these kitchens. What does it mean if they can no longer get food?” asked Kuka.‘“

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/3/5/sudanese-starve-as-soup-kitchens-close-down-and-warring-parties-block-aid

#USAID #EU #USPol #Sudan #Famine

“Can the US switch off Europe’s weapons?”One more for the “De Gaulle was right” file. Levels of dependence which might have been...

“Can the US switch off Europe’s weapons?”

One more for the “De Gaulle was right” file.

Levels of dependence which might have been necessary in a Cold War context, and with much weaker European integration, feel baffling a generation later.

Now we’ve got total dependence on a brain-dead NATO and EU Defence not yet born.

https://on.ft.com/3F9Vyfw

#USA #Europe #EU #EUDefence

Circle, a short philosophical animation by Korean animator Joung Yumi.Enjoy, don’t read the dumb Arte spoiler.Seen at Anima Festival...

Circle, a short philosophical animation by Korean animator Joung Yumi.

Enjoy, don’t read the dumb Arte spoiler.

Seen at Anima Festival Brussels:

https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/119358-000-A/circle/

#Animation #Cartoon #Art #Korea #SouthKorea

Why the US Right is different.John Burn-Murdoch argues that based on the World Values Survey, the US Right is genuinely closer to Turkey or...

Why the US Right is different.

John Burn-Murdoch argues that based on the World Values Survey, the US Right is genuinely closer to Turkey or Russia than to the EU Right.

NB: they’ve been like this for 20 years, since Fox News and 9/11; but were more like the European Right in 1990.

https://on.ft.com/3QVUGxn

#USA #MAGA #USPol #FarRight #Europe #GOP

Lowest sea ice extent ever, reports the EU Copernicus satellite...

Lowest sea ice extent ever, reports the EU Copernicus satellite programme

https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-global-sea-ice-cover-record-low-and-third-warmest-february-globally

#Climate #ClimateScience #EU #Space