Thomas RYCKALTS

[Frederic De Gucht @FredericDeGucht]

Er wordt een parlementaire onderzoekscommissie opgericht, belast met:
• het onderzoeken van het beheer en de werking van de Anderlechtse Haard
• het grondig onderzoeken van de procedures inzake toewijzing, afwijking en mutatie en de procedures voor de toewijzing van sociale woningen, de aanwerving van personeel, interne promoties en de gunning van overheidsopdrachten;
• het evalueren van de naleving van de beginselen van transparantie, gelijke behandeling, neutraliteit en goed bestuur binnen de OVM;
• het onderzoeken van de rol van de BGHM bij de procedures inzake toewijzing, afwijking en mutatie binnen de Anderlechtse Haard;
• het formuleren van aanbevelingen ter versterking van de transparantie, de onafhankelijkheid, de democratische controle en het goed bestuur van de OVM.

Minimaal 3 commissievergaderingen per week t.o.v. normaal 1 per week.

Burgers verdienen snel antwoord en acties na grondig onderzoek. Geen getreuzel en politieke spelletjes.

[Mark Packer 🇨🇦 🍁 @M_Templar37]

@Mylovanov

[unusual_whales @unusual_whales]

BREAKING: Trump purchased up to a $1 million worth of Nvidia, $NVDA, stock on January 6, 2026.

This is a week before the Commerce Department officially approved the sale of Nvidia chips to China.

[Sven Gatz @svengatz]

Mobiliteit aub. Geen immobiliteit.
Brusselaars hebben recht op rijexamen. Mensen hebben een auto nodig voor hun job.
Verantwoordelijkheid minister mobiliteit, die minister van fiets, voetganger, tram, bus (metro?) mag zijn, maar ook van de automobilist. https://t.co/KOLDd8vMXz

[David Criekemans @DavidCriekemans]

👇 Belastingen op vermogen in % van het BNP. Cijfers van 2024 dus nog niet met nieuwe regels erbij. @tijd

[💙💛 Regina Laska @Sunnymica]

Die USA ziehen also 5.000 Soldaten aus Deutschland ab.
Trump scheint sich nicht von seinem Wut-Koller erholen zu wollen. Eine ganze Brigade-Kampfgruppe soll Deutschland verlassen. In den nächsten sechs bis zwölf Monaten.
Aber das ist längst nicht alles.

Wie gestern bekannt wurde, werden auch die Langstreckenwaffen, die nach dem Plan der Joe Biden-Regierung noch in diesem Jahr nach Deutschland verlegt werden sollten, gar nicht erst bei uns ankommen.

Auf den ersten Blick möchte man meinen, es liege an unserem Kanzler.
Weil Friedrich Merz am Montag in Marsberg gesagt hat, die ganze US-Nation werde von Iran „gedemütigt“, die Amerikaner hätten „keine wirklich überzeugende Strategie“, man müsse sich an Afghanistan und Irak erinnern.

Bullshit.
Das alles hatte er, sachlich identisch, schon am 3. März im ZDF gesagt – nach seinem Besuch im Weißen Haus.
Damals habe ihm Donald Trump noch „erneut versichert“, dass die USA an ihrer Truppenpräsenz festhalten.

Acht Wochen lang: keine Reaktion aus Washington.
Auch nach Marsberg: zwei Tage Stille.

Am Mittwoch telefonierte Trump allerdings anderthalb Stunden mit Wladimir Putin.
Themen laut Kreml: Iran, Ukraine, Waffenruhe zum 9. Mai für Putins Militärparade.
„A good talk“, sagt Trump.

Dann legt er auf.
Und tippt.
Zweimal arbeitet er sich direkt nach dem Putin-Telefonat an Merz auf Truth Social ab.
Nur wenige Stunden hintereinander.

Warum es durchaus mit Putin zu tun haben könnte?
Das hat mit einem Detail zu tun, das in der deutschen Berichterstattung bislang erstaunlich leise blieb: Reuters meldete, dass genau jenes Bataillon nicht mehr kommt, das für die Stationierung von Long-Range-Fires vorgesehen war – Tomahawks, Hyperschallwaffen, Marschflugkörper mit Reichweiten bis tief nach Russland.

Biden hatte ihre Stationierung 2024 angekündigt.
Moskau reagierte damals sofort: „Casus Belli“, Vergleich mit der Pershing-Eskalation. Frau Wagenknecht und Co. hatten sich wortreich dagegen abgearbeitet.

Genau dieses Bataillon kommt jetzt nicht.
Das ist nicht der Beifang einer Trump-Beleidigungssalve.
Das ist Punkt eins auf der russischen Wunschliste – seit zwei Jahren öffentlich formuliert.

Und er wird umgesetzt.
Marsberg ist der kommunizierbare Auslöser.
Der Zeitpunkt erzählt eine andere Geschichte.

Wenn sicherheitspolitische Entscheidungen zeitlich und inhaltlich so präzise mit den Interessen des Kremls übereinanderliegen, dann stellt sich nicht mehr die Frage, ob das Zufall ist.

Sondern wie viele Zufälle man noch glauben will.

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

There is a video circulating on the internet that is difficult to watch. A woman sits on a pavement in Louisville, Kentucky. She is wearing a hospital gown. It is 36 degrees outside. Her belongings, everything she apparently owns, are in a plastic bag on the concrete beside her. Behind her, through the glass doors she has just been escorted through, the hospital hums along as normal. The security guards who brought her here have already gone back inside.

She couldn’t afford her bill.

This is not a scene from a developing nation or a history book. This is the United States of America.
The country in which it happens has spent decades telling the rest of the world that it has the highest GDP on earth. Which is a bit like a restaurant proudly displaying its bill on the wall. Enormous number. Terrible meal. The lobster was frozen, the wine came from a box.

Europe, by comparison, has spent the better part of a century building something rather different. The food, for a start, is extraordinary. Not in a showy way, but in the way that a simple lunch in Lyon or a glass of wine on a terrace in Lisbon reminds you that eating is one of the genuinely good things about being alive. The wine is the wine that the rest of the world has spent generations attempting to replicate, mostly without success.

Roughly 35 percent of Europeans live with a chronic illness. In America, that number is 76 percent. The difference is not genetic. It is architectural. It is the slow accumulation of decent food, walkable cities, actual holidays, and a healthcare system that does not require you to crowdfund your own appendix.

Europeans work fewer hours. They have more purchasing power on a smaller salary once you subtract the cost of health insurance, medical debt, and the private school their child needs because the local public one has a metal detector at the entrance. They live, on average, about ten years longer. Not ten years of decline and doctor visits, but ten years of being a person in the world.

In the first quarter of 2025, the number of Americans leaving the United States doubled compared to the previous quarter.  Europe was their top destination. Not for a sabbatical or a gap year. Permanently. These are not people who failed. These are people who did the maths.

There is a man somewhere in America right now who has worked fifty-hour weeks for forty years, taken one week off when his employer permitted it, and will, statistically, be dead before he sees seventy. And there is another man, not very far away on a map but an entire civilisation removed in practice, sitting on a terrace in the afternoon sun with a glass of something cold and no particular place to be. He has had six weeks off every summer since 1987. He knows his neighbours by name.

The first man’s country has the higher GDP.

The first man’s country tops the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) index. The second man tops the Quality of Life Index (QLI). The better health. The longer life. The afternoon.

MAGA America calls that losing.

Ask anyone.
Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗧
Donald Trump has spent years selling Americans the same NATO grievance: that the United States is being exploited while Europe gets security on the cheap. It is one of his most effective political lines. It is also one that begins to unravel the moment you examine how NATO's common funding actually works.

𝗔 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗢𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱
Every successful grift needs a convincing story. Trump's goes like this: America carries NATO while Europe freeloads. Washington pays the bills. Europeans enjoy the protection. Americans get taken advantage of by allies who should know better. It is compelling. It is endlessly repeatable. And it collapses entirely under scrutiny.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗼 𝗦𝗲𝗲
NATO's common budget is calculated using an agreed formula based on national income. Every member pays according to what their economy can bear. That is the stated principle of the alliance.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙨:

▪️ The United States - GDP $28.75 trillion contributes $836 million to NATO.

▪️ Germany - GDP $4.69 trillion, one sixth the size of America's contributes $836 million to NATO.

▪️ Britain - GDP $3.69 trillion, one eighth the size of America's contributes $578 million to NATO.

That is not burden-sharing. That is the world's largest economy securing the cheapest proportional deal at the table and then spending a decade telling its voters it was being robbed.

𝙂𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮. 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙨𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖. 𝙒𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲
If a billionaire and a nurse donate the same amount to charity, the billionaire is not the generous one. The nurse is. The sacrifice is not measured in dollars. It is measured in what those dollars cost.

That is NATO. Britain and Germany are the nurse. America is the billionaire - contributing the same amount from a vastly larger fortune, then demanding recognition for its generosity.

Proportionally, European allies are carrying a heavier burden than Washington. The burden-sharing argument only works if you deliberately ignore what each country can actually afford.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗜𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗔 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘁 𝗔 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹
This arrangement did not happen by accident or oversight. The common funding formula was negotiated, agreed, and signed off by American officials across multiple administrations. Washington sat at the table. Washington accepted the terms.

Trump did not inherit an unfair deal. He inherited an exceptionally cheap one - maximum strategic leverage at minimum proportional cost. Rather than acknowledge this, he repackaged a favourable arrangement as exploitation and sold it to his voters as victimhood.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩. 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.

𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿
NATO delivers something no defence budget can purchase outright legitimate global leadership. The alliance is the institutional framework through which American power is projected, validated, and accepted by the rest of the world.

Europe is not simply funding its own defence. It is part-funding the political architecture of American global influence. Meanwhile, European defence budgets are rising sharply in response to genuine Russian aggression - the very threat NATO exists to counter.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝗽𝘁
Germany matches America's contribution from an economy six times smaller. Britain carries a proportionally heavier load from an economy eight times smaller. The United States secured the best deal at the table and built a political career pretending otherwise.

[Rohoza (Дев'ятий) Mykhailo 🇺🇦🇱🇹🇨🇦 @Oct7NeverForget]

When you have no cards 😎
Ukraine will propose that the United States sign a peace agreement with Iran, under which the U.S. must completely withdraw its troops from the Persian Gulf, then hold elections in America in 100 days and make Iranian the second official language.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🚨🇫🇷🇺🇸 Trump said Macron's wife beats him up.

Macron's response: "Trump talks too much... his remarks are neither elegant nor up to the standard."

Macron told Trump that he has bad manners.

In French this is a declaration of war.
https://t.co/Xw168B4rKx

[Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 @jurgen_nauditt]

Trump is "stealing" $750 million from NATO countries.

This $750 million maneuver is further evidence of transatlantic friction under Trump: Europe pays, the US decides flexibly according to its own priorities. It's annoying, partly unfair to the contributing countries, and undermines credibility. But it's not an "expropriation" of already delivered weapons, but rather a shift in distribution priorities.

Europe should learn from this: The right response is to build strategic autonomy for Europe.

And one more thing—Trump is anything but a reliable partner.

[Dirk De Smedt @DirkDeSmedt_]

Kortom goed beleid van onze toenmalige liberale minister van financiën @Guy_VanHengel.
1) meer Brusselaars met een eigen woning
2) meer fiscaal draagvlak
3) geen negatieve impact op de begroting

We gaan het systeem van het abattement dan ook uitbreiden!

[Hans von der Burchard @vonderburchard]

Every time I come back to Brussels, I’m struck by the light speed of the renovation of Place Schuman.

In two years of construction, they’ve essentially managed to replace some asphalt and install a few concrete buckets for plants (and no, there’s no complex underground work).

[Hugo Poliart @HugoPoliart]

Retour à Bruxelles qui est un véritable dépotoir à ciel ouvert. C'est encore pire qu'il y a un an. La propreté de l'espace public dans la capitale devrait être la priorité de tous les gouvernements ou communes. Comment avoir de la sécurité ou de la prospérité dans ces conditions?

[Bjorn 🇧🇪🇺🇦🇬🇪 @TheRealDinges]

The biggest political party in Belgium right now @de_NVA

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

Even silent money speaks loudly...

[JEFF @jeffisrael25]

let me get this straight

a team will not be playing in the FIFA World Cup because they are currently being bombed by the FIFA Peace Prize winner

[Tudor Alexis @tudoralexis1]

@txgermanbre You can always share this video of Officer Frion, an elite commando, helping save lives of American Special Forces caught in an Ambush in Africa with guts and grit.