Bieke Machiels 💙

@bieke.bsky.social

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Shell’s Bahamas trading office made $6.2 billion in profit from 2018 to 2023 with just 37 staff and a 0% tax rate. Leaked data analysed by SOMO and Leiden University reveals that is 104 times more profit per employee than Shell’s average, achieved by routing standard crude oil through a tax haven.

Kijk, wij ontvangen jaarlijks miljoenen immigranten in de EU, die hier komen werken, een familie vervoegen, studeren of bescherming krijgen. Feit. Als we dit gewoon erkennen en appreciëren, nemen we het kruit weg van extreemrechts en externe dictaturen. Simpel toch?

Like many Europeans, I felt deep unease, not only at the deaths in Ceuta, but at Europe’s dehumanised response. By embracing this dystopian narrative, they turned desperate people into invaders, abandoned European solidarity and helped create the image Europe’s worst enemies want READ below

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The largest cause of deforestation is, and has been, the expansion of farmland. But the production of which products, in particular, has been driving this in recent decades? A recent study, published in Nature Food by Chandrakant Singh and Martin Persson, answered this question.

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An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play

The Campaign to Force Genital Exams on Girl Athletes Soon Washington State could require sex-verification tests for those playing sports in schools.
Portrait of Andrea González-Ramírez
By Andrea González-Ramírez, a senior writer for The Cut who covers systems of power. Those physicals, Maria explains, are usually perfunctory: “Like, Are you walking normally? Are you lightheaded? I have never had to take any clothes off. I’ve never felt uncomfortable or violated.” If IL26-638 were to pass and Maria were still in school, she says she would likely drop out of her team. (We’re withholding Maria’s real name to protect her privacy.) “I honestly don’t know if I would be able to do these tests,” she adds. “It would also make me question, If I do it, are all my teammates going to too? Or would I just play with the three or four girls who are willing to or have access to do it?”

Since we are deep in this death cult discussion: In July 30, 72 people have died on the Spanish exclave of Ceuta following a big migrant surge from Morocco. Between June 21 and 29, almost 10,000 excessive deaths have been counted across Europe due to big climate changed attributed heatwaves.