Hester Keijser

A schematic of the multiple types of communication and weapons systems: laser guided munitions, GPS aided bombs, SATCOM jammer

The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book

Cop30 live: ‘We will exterminate ourselves’ if we keep extracting fossil fuels, activists say Climate Action Tracker report finds pledges made in past year have not cut the forecast for global heating

“We worry what will happen if we don’t have concrete action now. We as indigenous people in the Amazon are tired of being sacrificed by a group of powerful people who want to rule the planet. If we don’t do something together we will be complicit with ecocide and the assassination of humanity.”
🦸🇵🇪🌿

Worked hard today turning an eyesore street garden covered in litter into a future paradise for bees and plants. Besides the 50+ plants, we planted dozens of bulbs and sowed locally sourced wild seeds. Can’t wait til spring arrives! All plants donated by the city 😍 & seeds by me.

In Sweden, online hate and anti-immigrant extremism are driving women out of public life | Martin Gelin A leading liberal politician has quit in fear of her physical safety. It is a crushing setback for democracy in one of the world’s most open societies, says journalist Martin Gelin

A grim read. It was hard to find the most disturbing passage. Make no mistake: women’s rights are under threat. “In 2024, a report from the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) showed that seven in 10 women in European politics had suffered abuse and harassment.”

That’s a hot air balloon - and also
an #absoluteunit

“…it’s as if people are suddenly voicing their interior monologues – things that until recently they’d have been embarrassed to say in public, or sometimes even to admit to themselves that they thought – out loud. After all, they can say this stuff online and nobody bats an eyelid?”

Meet gen X: middle-aged, enraged and radicalised by internet bile | Gaby Hinsliff Who is driving the populist insurgency? It’s not grumpy pensioners or vulnerable teenagers – it’s my generation, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

Ah, makes sense. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I’m so tired of the Islamophobia in this country. More than anything, it indicates an inability to consider the limitedness and relativity of one’s worldview. Such lack of imagination never served anyone, and can be quite dangerous as it leaves one blind to the realities of the lives of others.

Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given

“…Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal.

Normal. That’s the word,” Verbeek wrote in his newsletter, The Planet. “Here, taking care of one another through public programs isn’t radical socialism. It’s Tuesday.”

Second that, but there’s an abyss between US & EU

My take away point is that for so many people politics is, as Mamdani said in his speech, something that is done to them rather than with / for them. They vote based on feelings engineered by social media or convenience, but have no sense of having any skin in the game.

This needs to change.

The third person voted for the 1st time and used ChatGTP to explain the Dutch electoral system to her. When she came to vote, she felt overwhelmed by the size of the ballot paper and voted for the 1st name on the list: Wilders, but regretted not voting for FvD, because she’s into conspiracy theories

Another person who does social counseling for former alcoholics said she found a new home with the FvD program because they were against Muslims - so in fact confessing to being Islamophobic and not feeling like she had to apologize for her extremist views. 2/

It’s stunning how many people casually tell me they voted for fascist parties in the election. Some for reasons no other than: I’m for democracy and this party’s name claims to be for democracy, so I voted for them. Also, my car broke down that day and I had no time to really consider my options. 1/

This machine could keep a baby alive outside the womb. How will the world decide to use it? For parents who have buried infants born too soon, a device like the AquaWomb is a miracle in waiting – and an impossible choice

Awww. 🥹

“One AquaWomb prototype includes access ports that let parents touch their infants. Another features a “uterus phone”, which pipes voices, music or heartbeats into the fluid at the same muffled pitch a fetus would hear in the womb.”

(❤️ swells with 🇳🇱 pride for such thoughtful care options)

Small terrier type dog sunbathing on a couch with pillow and throw

Love of my life sunbathing on the couch right after she threw up her breakfast and ate it up again. Ahh the joys of dogs! 😬

Everyone here today: Ich bin ein New Yorker.

Wishing Mamdani all the luck in the world to make America love socialism again.

The nature extinction crisis is mirrored by one in our own bodies. Both have huge implications for health Modern life is waging a war against ecosystems around us and inside us. Keeping our own microbes healthy is another reason to demand action to preserve the natural world

“The key take-home points are that if you take action for biodiversity in cities (through tree planting, or enhancing habitat in parks, or creating greenways), these actions will also likely yield benefits to human health”

More studies like these please 🙏🏻

My latest fix up job: restoring the blade on these large pruning shears. Taking them apart took some persuading, putting them back together took some puzzling, but they work smooth and very silently again. Ready for the next horror movie!

Also, there’s a Robert Morris in the Netherlands that is geared towards the solstice : www.landartflevoland.nl/kunstwerken/...

Jan Dibbets. The Shortest Day At My House in Amsterdam. 1970 | MoMA Audio from In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art, 1960-1976.

Jan Dibbets made at least two pieces around the solstice called De Kortste Dag… One is in the MoMa collection: www.moma.org/audio/playli...

Are you making your own lemonade yet? Such fun to try new flavors and work with what falls in my hands. Today it was mint (too good to go) with oranges and ginger (both found outside), bay leaves (foraged) and lemon. Now the whole house smells like peppermint. 🤤😋

Picture of health: going to art galleries can improve wellbeing, study reveals Viewing original works of art can relieve stress, cut heart disease risk and boost immune system, first study of its kind finds

OK, here is some good news:

“Enjoying original works of art in a gallery can relieve stress, reduce the risk of heart disease and boost your immune system, according to the first study of its kind.”

Brilliantly pointed as always.

Additionally, there is no culture of physical contact here to support any kind of felt solidarity, which will remain an abstract slogan. Covid and MeToo have reinforced an aversion to touch. In a climate geared towards disconnection and isolation, forging a togetherness becomes an uphill struggle.

We seem to have a culture of avoidance of confrontation and engagement that makes meaningful exchanges even harder. Dutch political parties rarely canvas door to door, handing out flyers in fleeting encounters to people hurrying past in public. Outreach is mostly digital or via posters and ads.

…and white people should not be surprised at the surging popularity of the extreme and radical right among their fellow countrymen, his question made me wonder if there is still room in this climate to discuss these positions in a way we could call civilized. And often the courage to do so fails.

I mentioned it to friends this morning. The husband asked if it wasn’t good people no longer felt ashamed to admit voting extreme right - implying that it means there is now a change to discuss their position. While it’s true that racism and Islamophobia have always festered below the surface 2/

‘Open hostility has become normalised’: Dutch Muslims fear rise of far right as general election looms The poll is seen as a litmus test for the Netherlands and its democratic ideals, as activists decry a hardening of political discourse driven by Geert Wilders

I can confirm this from talking to random people I meet on the street:

What’s happening now goes beyond ‘negative talk’. It’s open hostility that has become normalised. The way Muslims and Islam are spoken about today would have caused outrage a few years ago. Now it barely raises an eyebrow.”

The poll might be right, but the coalition won’t be that simple. It will be a patchwork job to get the majority in parliament.

When you have a terrier, people say you can make their food more interesting by wrapping it in layers of stuff. This will mean it takes them a whopping …. 2 minutes extra to destroy a treat. Oh well, I guess it was fun.