Plenty to reflect about re: the Arday affair, but I'm going to repeat this one thing. The playbook the right used here is effective even though it's not especially sophisticated, as it relies on the audience to do the dirty work. I've been calling it "Trojan horse propaganda", let's go with that. 1/

While hundreds of people were evacuated from nearby villages, over 200 firefighters stayed in the High Fens to battle the ongoing wildfires. Some are unable to return home.

Over 250 workers battle High Fens wildfire overnight

Over 250 workers battle High Fens wildfire overnight

brusselstimes.com

The forest fire in Belgium (Hohe Venn) looks really bad. Its smoke plume now extends far eastward. It was already quite smoky in large parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, but with this rapidly escalating fire in Belgium, it is now much worse.

If you read only one longer story this week, please make it this one. It’s a devastating account of Israel‘s strategy in the south of Lebanon. If we had a functioning International system, none of this would be tolerated. 

Israel’s campaign to make southern Lebanon ‘unliveable’

Israeli forces have systematically destroyed homes, roads, farmland and forests despite ceasefire with Hizbollah

ft.com

Wir müssen einfach noch mehr Menschen abschieben und ein paar Gaskraftwerke bauen, dann wird alles gut werden.

Thomson Reuters, which owns news agency Reuters, has signed a $125M deal giving ICE access to its databases of personal data. USA Today has partnered with Palantir to gain "actionable intelligence" on its audiences. The media should be opponents of Trump's police state — not collaborators.

New Euro banknote design just dropped. @lectrr.bsky.social

Lost jobs, inequality, rogue agents: why are we accepting oligarchs’ AI agenda? | Robert Reich

Lost jobs, inequality, rogue agents: why are we accepting oligarchs’ AI agenda? | Robert Reich

The dangers of AI become clearer every day. Why are we still acting as if we have no choice about our future?

theguardian.com

FT article adds to recent Triodos Bank study on heat economics Shows EU pursing wrong priorities. EU estimated to lose around 5% of GDP due to climate costs to 2030 EU deregulation agenda does not address this Especially Farright has no solutions to offer other than suck it up, leave rich alone

Garry Peterson@resiliencesci.bsky.social · 3d ago

“Rising climate costs erode sovereign creditworthiness, which in turn limits the fiscal capacity to spend on adaptation and mitigation, leading to still larger costs in future” giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

www.thenerve.news/p/nigel-fara... The same month as Farage’s dinner with his confidants in 2020, the (DCGG) a crypto lobbying outfit representing Harborne’s stablecoin Tether, was registered in Brussels. Among its first registered lobbyists, according to the EU parliament? Christopher Harborne.

‘I need to make money’: the story of Nigel Farage’s crypto-awakening

In the latest part of our series The Harborne Receipts, we look at how the chief architect of Brexit fared in post-EU Britain – short of cash, out of politics, but becoming increasingly attracted to d...

thenerve.news

EU plastic packaging reduction targets weakened from outset by industry lobbying

EU plastic packaging reduction targets weakened from outset by industry lobbying

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which comes into effect on Wednesday, August 12, introduces binding reduction targets for the first time in Europe, though it has been undermined by heavy industry lobbying.

lemonde.fr

About-turn on AI safety in EU Digital Omnibus follows, "sustained lobbying by sections of the machinery industry, which called on lawmakers to streamline compliance requirements as part of a broader drive to boost European competitiveness" www.socialeurope.eu/simpler-ai-r...

Simpler AI Rules Must Not Mean Weaker Safety for Europe’s Workers

The Digital Omnibus strips machinery from the AI Act’s high-risk regime, leaving worker safeguards in limbo.

socialeurope.eu

Simpler AI rules should not mean weaker safety for workers But the EU's Digital Omnibus has stripped machinery from the AI Act’s high-risk regime, leaving protections for workers in limbo www.socialeurope.eu/simpler-ai-r...

Simpler AI Rules Must Not Mean Weaker Safety for Europe’s Workers

The Digital Omnibus strips machinery from the AI Act’s high-risk regime, leaving worker safeguards in limbo.

socialeurope.eu

There's growing pressure in the EU to simplify banking rules. Our position: simpler rules, yes. Weaker safeguards, no. 🎯 Why it matters: strong banks are better able to keep lending to the real economy and absorb shocks without shifting losses to society. 🔗 www.finance-watch.org/policy-porta...

For over 50 years ExxonMobil has denied and downplayed climate change, and fund groups spreading misinformation. One of Brussels’ biggest lobby actors, has lobbied for #FalseSolutions including flawed #CCS. Now, is suing the EU for making oil&gas companies to deliver on carbon capture targets.

Real Zero Europe@realzeroeurope.bsky.social · 5d ago

👉Exxon has long promoted #CCS as a way to tackle climate change while continuing to extract fossil fuels. The company has also benefited from public funding supporting CCS. All the while, CCS has a long track record of delays, failures and unfulfilled promises 👇 www.theguardian.com/business/art...

ICYMI Report on influence extreme right/fascists in US government From @splcenter.org And recall: US government going after people working for SPLC for exposing the threats to democracy of those groups

Hard-right groups have expanded their influence across US government, report finds

Southern Poverty Law Center releases report as US government pursues federal fraud charges against group

theguardian.com

A GPAHE report traces the global expansion of the Identitarian movement, documenting 143 organizations, 37 Generation Identity chapters, and more than 11 million social media followers. The report also finds growing connections between Identitarian figures and political actors in Europe and the U.S.

As Social Media Platforms Ditched Content Moderation, the White Nationalist Identitarianism Movement Exploded

A new GPAHE investigation finds the Identitarian movement has expanded globally. The report documents 143 organizations worldwide, 37 Generation Identity chapters across Europe, and a 70% surge in soc...

globalextremism.org

The EU's plans to liberalise rules on pesticide use at home contrast with new restrictions on imports of produce containing pesticide residues. Yet the EU continues to sell banned pesticides to countries outside the bloc.

EU double standards on pesticides exposed, amid warning of coffee and citrus price spikes

The EU's plans to liberalise rules on pesticide use at home contrast with new restrictions on imports of produce containing pesticide residues. Yet the EU continues to sell banned pesticides to countries outside the bloc.

euobserver.com

As the US administration now vows to dismantle the EU-based International Criminal Court "brick by brick", I took a look at how the EU can face down Donald Trump's tech aggression A @euractiv.com summer (and longer) read: www.euractiv.com/news/how-the...

How the EU can face down Trump's tech aggression | Euractiv

As the US weaponises Big Tech, the EU must decide how hard to fight back

euractiv.com

Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say

Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say

First responders, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing. Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Impact assessment culture in the EU. Time for something new? •Current impact assessments in environmental policies lack diversity in economic thought •A standard neoclassic toolbox dominates methodological choices •3 new lenses are tested on 4 EU cases #PNS www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This should be getting FAR more attention. An American oil company with ties to Trump’s orbit is moving forward with plans to drill for oil in Greenland. Some drilling-related equipment has already been brought ashore even though Greenland says the necessary approvals have NOT been granted.

⁉️ Confused by @ec.europa.eu’s omnibus regulations and what they mean for animals? 🐄 Our Omnibus Tracker provides a clear, centralized overview of the 10 proposals & their impacts on animal protection. 🔗 animallaweurope.org/omnibus-trac... #AnimalWelfare

▪️+960 harassment reports ▪️ Intimidation from managers and HR ▪️ Staff physically attacked by a superior We’re not talking about a medieval castle. We’re talking about the European Commission: a neoliberal castle! Join a union👇🏾 bit.ly/4hshXpk

Protecting Those Who Speak Out - Union Syndicale Bruxelles

A recent POLITICO article on whistleblowing within the EU institutions: whistleblower protection must work in practice, not only on paper

bruxelles.unionsyndicale.eu

Brilliant from @mayor.nyc.gov . Join the #MakeAmaonPay campaign @uniglobalunion.org @gmbcampaigns.bsky.social

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 6d ago

If it looks like an Amazon delivery and drives like an Amazon delivery, then it's an Amazon delivery, right? Not according to Amazon. Big companies like Amazon have built a vast network of subcontractors who deliver their packages while shielding them from accountability.

Study Dutch bank Triodos shows Extreme heat wiping out Dutch, EU economic growth this year slashing 1% of growth or 180 bn Euros Compared to this, focus @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu and @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu on deregulation is a penny-wise pound foolish strategy @epsu.bsky.social 1/2

Dutch bank: Extreme heat could wipe out Dutch, EU economic growth this year

Extreme heat is expected to largely wipe out projected economic growth in the Netherlands this year, according to a new report from the Dutch bank Triodos. The same conditions are hitting the wider Eu...

nltimes.nl

Here is a basic smell test. If the Netherlands and Denmark - Germany’s neighbours - can keep pace with US growth, are EU regulations really to blame for Germany’s stagnation? The red tape Berlin needs to cut, and the deregulation it needs to pursue, are primarily at home—not in Brussels. 1/

Sander Tordoir@sandertordoir.bsky.social · 5d ago

Word is spreading that pockets of the European economy are blossoming. Croatia, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Greece are also growing at a brisk pace. Those countries are in the EU single market - casting doubt on a German narrative that EU regulation is to blame for its woes.

🔴New EU data reveals the number of firefighters in the EU was cut by 18,000 last year - the worst year on record for wildfires "This is austerity setting fire to common sense and putting lives, livelihoods and homes at risk" - @estherlynch.bsky.social 📰 www.etuc.org/en/pressrele...

"We’re witnessing the biggest #deregulation agenda in the history of the EU – driven by big corporations, who want to make it easier to exploit people and our planet for profit. With so much at stake, Ireland’s EU Presidency is more important than ever" 🚨 @uplift.ie www.uplift.ie/corpwatch-de...

Ireland’s EU Presidency: what do big corporations have to do with it? - Uplift - People Powered Change

Cartoon by Khalil Bendib, via Corporate Europe Observatory Right now, the EU laws that are meant to protect our food, workplaces, and environment are under attack. We’re witnessing the biggest “deregu...

uplift.ie

2026: When a 'social democratic' prime minister is constantly posting selfies with her fascist bestie.