The name of New Mexico is funny because it's one of those things that you'd think is really simple (oh, it's it used to be part of old Mexico, so we'll call it New Mexico!), but it's much more complex New Mexico as the name for the area predates Mexico by several hundred years!

Owen Barcala@obarcala.bsky.social · 10h ago

But, like, New America wouldn't make any sense because this is still the original America and... You know what, forget it

2006: omg new update dropped. Here are ten cool things you’ll want to turn on immediately. 2026: omg new update dropped. Here are ten things you’ll want to turn off immediately.

De terugkeer van de rijkswacht is een typisch nutteloos voorstel van een politicus die uit is op profilering www.demorgen.be/meningen/de-...

De terugkeer van de rijkswacht is een typisch nutteloos voorstel van een politicus die uit is op profilering

Alles komt terug in deze beroerde tijden van onrust en onbehagen, zelfs de rijkswacht. Minister van Defensie Theo Francken (N-VA) wil de gemilitariseerde politiedienst nieuw leven inblazen – een vrese...

demorgen.be

What’s the best train catering in Europe and why is it Poland’s WARS?

Incredible use of the format

AI supervising the attention levels of Flemish politicians is something I didn’t expect.

Dries Depoorter@driesdepoorter.bsky.social · 17h ago

The Flemish Scrollers is running again! The project uses AI to watch the livestreams of the Flemish Parliament and automatically tags politicians when they’re on their phone instead of paying attention. New: it now also checks what’s on their laptop screens. driesdepoorter.be/theflemishscrollers

New metric for climate change - I've had not one but two marketing emails telling me that "Herfst staat voor de deur" (Autumn is on the doorstep) when in fact it's been autumn for several weeks already, it just hasn't felt like it.

On a train through Germany and once again producing hybrids of Dutch and German when I speak that will see both Vondel and Goethe spinning in their graves.

It shouldn’t bother me so much, but when people use ‘one bad apple’ they never complete the thought ‘spoils the whole barrel’. In other words it typically doesn’t mean what is intended, but it’s the unintended, correct, meaning that is typically true, in sweet revenge for linguistic purists.

Flipping through a 2025 Suske en Wiske (Flemish kids comic series) and pleased to see the right attitudes being inculcated.

New Shakespeare just dropped

John Self@john-self.bsky.social · yesterday

Throw away your Complete Works of Shakespeare, folks:

Got to love a giant killing (as long as Anderlecht pull it back against Beerschot in the second half)

RTBF Sport@rtbf-sport.be · 2d ago

Nicolas Lhoist au bord des larmes après l’exploit de Rochefort en Coupe de Belgique : "Quand le cœur est là, on peut aller très loin"

Racist advocates of "total remigration" on X who vocally opposed to policies of integration + assimilation (eg: those who see Reform's Matthew Goodwin as much too liberal on race + integration) believe Lowe's new policy is a game-changing new step towards a broader racist remigration agenda.

And it's not even infrastructure. It's like saying an empty warehouse is infrastructure.

The problem here is not just the boom, but that AI does not leave behind the same sort of network infrastructure that can be profitably reused later. So even if this investment is just ahead of its time (as fibre investment was) it’s still wasted money.

Very depressing. Of a piece with the research on loss of cafés leading to higher RN-voting propensity in France (and similar with high street decline in UK for Reform). Also, thinking about Kroegtijgers here who are trying to revive Belgian café culture kroegtijgers.be/onze-missie

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 2d ago

hatttttttte this I hate it I hate it it makes me so sad I hate it www.ft.com/content/989c...

My stepmother, born in 1933, was head teacher of a multi-ethnic school where all religious holidays were celebrated (long before it became commonplace to do so). She was briefly hounded by the press for reporting a racist police officer.

Anthony Zacharzewski@anthonyzach.be · 2d ago

My late mother would be 91 now, and lived through war as a child. She was firmly anti-racist, married a Polish immigrant and would not have wanted to be used as a tissue-thin justification for people being racist in 2026.

Europe must liberate Belgium from its huge Russian assets risk ft.trib.al/E6lks6I | opinion

Europe must liberate Belgium from its huge Russian assets risk

What happens if the US tries to take control of the hundreds of billions blocked in Euroclear?

ft.trib.al

big flashbacks of the European protests back in 2010-2011

My late mother would be 91 now, and lived through war as a child. She was firmly anti-racist, married a Polish immigrant and would not have wanted to be used as a tissue-thin justification for people being racist in 2026.

Peter Whitewood@pwhitewood.bsky.social · 3d ago

Prejudices so suppressed they can only be ‘whispered’ in a national newspaper.

The biggest driver for me wasn't Musk per se, although he is the figurehead of this. Funding from X is miniscule when looked at in terms of Musk's income. It is about projecting the idea that you can accept the most abhorrent actions and ideology just to benefit yourself. That's why I left 3/

Notable how little discussion of the riots there is on Bluesky mind. Limoges town hall has been burned to the ground…

Des diplomates français, belges et polonais ont été attaqués par des colons masqués dans le village palestinien de Taybeh. Les colons israéliens ont brisé les vitres d’un véhicule consulaire belge, exigé de voir les pièces d’identité des diplomates et ont jeté un membre de la délégation au sol

Second film at @filmfestgent.bsky.social was the brilliant “The Friend’s House is Here”, telling the story of two women in the underground theatre scene in Teheran. 10/10 and, given exteriors had to be filmed on hidden sound and camera equipment, amazingly well shot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntzw...

The Friend's House Is Here Trailer #1 (2026)

YouTube video by Rotten Tomatoes Indie

youtube.com

Day in Gent for @filmfestgent.bsky.social but first to MSK for an exhibition of Jenny Montigny, a Belgian artist active in the first decades of the 20th century. A couple of favourites, dates and titles in ALT. On until the new year.

Correctly showing that Belgium is its own worst enemy.

Terrible Maps :bot:@terriblemaps.zpravobot.news.ap.brid.gy · 3d ago

Danger presented by Belgium

Go to your camera roll, search boat and post a picture you like.

Ken Tindell@kentindell.bsky.social · 3d ago

Go to your camera roll and search "boat" and then post a picture of a boat you like.

And if Europe keeps financing its competitors instead of building its own capabilities, SpaceX will indeed remain "irreplaceable". Not because Europe can't compete, but because it is not committed to the competition.

“I reckon” polling at its absolute worst. It’s bad enough when they poll “should the Eggs Marketing (No. 2) Directive be amended to take account of cage height?” but at least that’s a policy question no normie cares about not something that expresses a view about whether others are lying.

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 4d ago

no offence but why is the British public being asked about my medical diagnosis, would it also like to check out my ankles and my elbows to decide whether I really have hypermobile joints, should I cough on them next time I have a cold so they can confirm that I'm ill