Deborah A

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[Rik Torfs @torfsrik]

“Het rapport dat Duitsland vijf jaar lang verborgen hield: ‘Coronavirus waarschijnlijk ontsnapt uit Chinees labo.’” Wie dat vijf jaar geleden durfde te zeggen was een wappie en een complotdenker. Intussen zijn we nog steeds niet aan een onafhankelijke analyse van het beleid toe.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

This is an absolute must-read by Singaporean diplomat @mahbubani_k who proposes a path forward for Europe: https://t.co/cY3MOtewnt

First of all, he argues that "Brussels has slavishly followed Washington for too long" and that European leaders have become so pathetic that "they are licking the boots that are kicking them in the face."

He says that it is shocking, and even a display of "infantile strategic thinking", that "Europeans didn’t anticipate the quagmire they’re in". They based "all European strategic thinking on the best-case scenario of the United States being a totally reliable ally", despite the US's proven history of being anything but.

To him, "the only way to restore Europe’s geopolitical standing is to consider three unthinkable options":

1) "Europe should announce its willingness to quit NATO"

He argues that "a Europe that is forced to spend 5 percent on defense is a Europe that doesn’t need the United States", given that this "amounts to $1.1 trillion", which is more than the U.S.'s own defense spending.

This is exactly right: why exactly would Europe remain under subservience to the U.S. if it increases its military budget, as Trump wishes it to? And also, why would it spend this budget on U.S. equipment when it can use it to prop up its own economy? It makes no sense.

2) "Work out a new grand strategic bargain with Russia"

He dismisses the false notion that "Russia represents a real security threat to the EU countries" and effectively proposes to out-Trump Trump: why let him work out a grand strategic bargain at the expense of Europe, when Europe can negotiate "fair compromise with [Russia], respecting current borders between Russia and the EU and a realistic compromise on Ukraine that doesn’t threaten either side’s core interests"?

If a grand bargain is on the cards, Europe has evidently much more to lose by letting Trump negotiate it. And much more to gain by negotiating it themselves too: after all Russia is their neighbor, not the U.S.'s...

3) "Work out a new strategic compact with China"

Mahbubani writes that when push comes to shove the only reason for the downturn in EU-China relations is because "the Europeans foolishly believed that a slavish loyalty to American geopolitical priorities would lead to rich geopolitical dividends for them." But instead "they have been kicked in the face."

He also points out that "China can help the EU deal with its real long-term geopolitical nightmare: the demographic explosion in Africa." And that "unless Africa develops its economies, there will be a surge of African migrants into Europe." As such "Europeans should welcome any foreign investment in Africa that creates jobs" and not, as they're currently doing "shooting themselves in the foot by criticizing and opposing China’s investment in Africa" (which he says "demonstrates how naive long-term European strategic thinking has become").

To conclude he reiterates that "Brussels is sacrificing its own strategic interests to serve American interests in the hope that geopolitical subservience would lead to rewards", but "clearly, it hasn’t."

Europe should draw the right lessons and "carry out the currently unthinkable option: Declare that henceforth it will be a strategically autonomous actor on the world stage that will put its own interests first. Trump may finally show some respect for Europe if it does that."

Nothing to add, he nails it!

[Tom London @TomLondon6]

I'm 63. All my life I could not understand how so many ordinary people participated in or simply "went along" with the Holocaust

It made no sense to me

Seeing the attitude of so many comfortable people in the West to the GENOCIDE in Gaza, I feel that I now understand

[Glenn Diesen @Glenn_Diesen]

Ideology makes the narrative immune to reality:
- The UK will still lecture the world about free speech
- The US will still lecture the world about human rights
- The EU will still lecture the world about peace
- NATO will still insist on being a defensive alliance
- Israel & Ukraine will still be portrayed as liberal democracies
- The conflicts of the world will still be sold to the public as a struggle between democracy and authoritarianism

Impossible? Observe how quickly the assassination attempt of Trump and removal of Biden went into the memory hole, and how quickly Harris as a national embarrassment for three years could be re-launched as the savior of America and the world. The genocide will be old news about terrorism, the Nord Stream attack will be dismissed as some rogue elements with a sailboat, and the sabotage of Ukraine-Russia peace agreements will be dismissed as conspiracy theories and propaganda. Political interference will still be "democracy promotion", foreign intelligence operations will still be "human rights organisations supporting civil society", coups will still be "democratic revolutions", invasions will still be "humanitarian interventions" etc. Reality is overrated.

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@OnAsiaandMore @BowesChay A Tuesday night in the middle of July in an office area is going to be pretty desolate in any northern city

[Thomas Fazi @battleforeurope]

Funny how the people freaking out about the rise of the “far right” in Europe are the same ones that for the past 2 ½ years have been arming literal neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@TijlDeBie Ik vrees dat het hopeloos is Tijl... net zoals tijdens covid volhardt men in een tunnelvisie, weigert men het vizier open te trekken.

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@TijlDeBie @rvdwalle Copy/paste uit de covid-periode

[Bert De Munck @BertMunck]

Sommigen vinden nog altijd dat er tijdens de pandemie niks fundamenteels is misgelopen. Anderen denken dat de fouten zich niet zullen herhalen. Beide groepen hebben ongelijk. Het lijkt me minstens debat waard, zeker in de aanloop naar verkiezingen.

https://t.co/NljXO51yFG

[Voice of Rabbis @voiceofrabbis]

Currently happening: 🚨

Israeli police raid the anti-Zionist Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem with armored vehicles.

Jews who support Palestine and oppose Zionism and Israel are arrested and beaten, and most of them are hospitalized with serious injuries.

[Rula Alqawasmi @Alqawasmi_Rula]

@TorahJudaism THANK YOU FOR YOUR HUMANITY 🙏🏻

[Assal Rad @AssalRad]

I’ve always avoided using the word “evil.” As a historian and analyst I think it reduces the complexity of human behavior and politics, so it doesn’t help our understanding. But I’ve run out of words for talking about Gaza. What’s happening and the people doing it are just evil.

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

Across Europe, Sweden saw lowest total death during and after Covid

The data shows the relative cumulative age-standardized mortality rate, meaning it controls for non-modifiable population characteristics, such as the age structure and size of differing populations, so that like-for-like comparisons can be made

Relative means mortality compared to five previous years (2015-19)

Cumulative means total mortality from week ending 3 January 2020 to week ending 26 August 2022

Age-standardized means all countries are adjusted to the same 2013 European Standard Population, https://t.co/ilnSHdcHex

Data: https://t.co/FBfXZDN1aJ, Methodology: https://t.co/o5FLYJJo9Z

See why Sweden probably did better: https://t.co/Y1ojZE7Ozi

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@JosDHaese En CD&V?

[Rik Torfs @torfsrik]

In de coronatijd werden sommige rechten en vrijheden buitenproportioneel ingeperkt, wat door sommigen nog altijd wordt ontkend. Bovendien ontstond op die manier een maatschappelijke sfeer die 'beschermende', vrijheidsbeperkende regels normaliseerde, wat nog gevaarlijker is.

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@GevaertThomas Heb je ook al in de Ardennen...

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@TijlDeBie @JosSpeybrouck Pertinente woordkeuze, dat is het helemaal

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@TijlDeBie @StijnBruers @derfreitag @ATegnell @demorgen Dank Tijl voor de moeite. Ons Covid-beleid was volgens mij effectief noch altruïstisch maar op een evaluatie lijken we niet te moeten rekenen. Mag daarom de casus Zweden sommige verstokte aanhangers ervan toch minstens eens wat verder doen nadenken.

[Deborah A @DeborahA___]

@GevaertThomas Tuurlijk. De oplossing is gemakkelijk hoor ;)

[Tijl De Bie @TijlDeBie]

Heb ik het gemist, of kreeg de #BELHEALTH studie over psychisch welzijn van @sciensano (mei 2023) zo goed als geen aandacht in de media?
https://t.co/DyHaWbdvoT

Hieronder enkele 'highlights', commentaar lijkt me overbodig.