Olivier Beys

But rest assured, I wouldn't have used the word cabal either to avoid reactions such as the one you offered in your posts ;)

By way of example historian Quinn Slobodian has written on its role in a few recent books such as Crack-Up Capitalism and more recently Hayek's bastards (where he traces the origins of current alt/far right thinking in a break-away group of neoliberals tied to inter alia Koch funded thinktanks).

Fair enough, but that was missing from the snippet you posted. That said, these companies do operate in a secretive way. And Koch Industries is involved. Labeling it a cabal is not that far-fetched given their outsized role in funding literally dozens of dark money far right think tanks.

Donald Trump’s approval rating Follow our presidential approval rating poll tracker to see how favourably Americans view Mr Trump

Let the good times roll! 🥳 The orange man's approval rating continues to tank. Given that people find the state of the economy the most important issue by far, his disastrous economic and trade policies will continue to weaken his approval rating even more 👌 www.economist.com/interactive/...

Not surprisingly he has a certain large car manufacturing plant in his constituency telling him what do say and do. The hundreds of SMEs, which EPP always claims to defend, in the recycling and parts industries are left out in the cold with a plastics recycling sector closing down and shedding jobs

This is also the guy single-handedly weakening provisions on circularity (in the ELV regulation) and especially a recycled content target for plastics in new vehicles (for which there was a standalone JRC study in addition to the IA) that would be lower in 5-6 years than what is achieved “today” 🤔

Where in that brief do you see SOMO is “uncovering a secret cabal”? They indicate themselves in that quote that it’s not illegal to set out this joint lobbying strategy. I for one applaud organisations such as these that uncover what these corporations are doing to a wider audience.

Belgium shows it’s perfectly feasible and not a burden at all, on the contrary it proved to be an opportunity to support electrification while providing a better and healthier service. Would be genuinely in the interest of IRU members, in fact, because it would level the playing field for all.

ANYWAY

Buy from small businesses
Buy from independent creators
Buy passion projects
Buy commissions
Buy art

In a society that's decided that money is final word, be aware of where yours goes and to support what

Yes it sucks, I don't like it either, but pretending it's not a thing does not help!

Klassiek “kijk, een boerkini!” verhaal. En helaas werkt dat zeer goed

Finally some fresh ideas in the talks about ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He keeps offering excuses without proposing and lobbying for solutions. Essentially he’s not really interested in going the extra mile on this issue, his priorities lie elsewhere.

EU 2035 latest: The oil lobby’s push for an EU biofuels loophole could create an unsustainable demand for animal fats and used cooking oil – the equivalent of 120 pigs per car.

A 🧵 on what this loophole would mean for Europe’s limited supply of advanced biofuels 👇

Et personne ne dit rien?

Very good interview and important fact-checking.

Reminder for EU Commission not to touch its CO2 emissions targets for cars and vans (a foolish move that’s on the cards, unfortunately). Slowing down incentives to bring EVs on the market will only hurt EU industry making them lose out to Chinese manufacturers.

Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature

Hoping to see another wave of people moving from the cesspit to Bsky! www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Which government authority in Europe could make the decision to ground Airbus planes in China? There is a imbalance in the strength of decision making hierarchies between EU and China.

The Conservatives and the far right have just torpedoed legislation in the European Parliament that would hold businesses accountable for mismanagement and human and environmental right violations. Adults take their responsibility, but that’s not what the right does apparently 😒

"data centers already accounted for 22% of Ireland's total electricity consumption in 2024. In the Dublin/Meath area, where a third of Ireland's population lives, 48% of the electricity was used by data centers in 2023." @abeba.bsky.social & @krisshrishak.bsky.social

✍🏼 www.iccl.ie/press-releas...

[wild speculation voice] a significant portion of LA's hyper obsessive health, fitness, and hiking culture can likely be attributed to the primal subconscious compensating reaction of living in a car dependent wasteland that is antithetical to the existence of people or even life itself.

Troll level 👌

The Big Lebowski

De vliegende auto waar China jaloers op is: “Hij zal de levensstijl van veel mensen veranderen” De eerste vliegende auto die voldoet aan alle wettelijke regels komt nu écht binnen bereik. De PAL-V Liberty staat klaar in een Nederlandse loods en is in de laatste testfase. “We hebben al 300 reserveringen, ook uit België.”

Het nieuwste speeltuig voor de rijken zal volgens de CEO "de levensstijl van *veel mensen* veranderen.” Een recept uit het klassieke draaiboek: presenteer deze nachtmerrie alsof iedereen het zich kan aanschaffen om publiek protest te vermijden 👎 www.standaard.be/economie/de-...

It's a useful reminder that sometimes tech can make a task more efficient for one side (applying for jobs), and more efficient for the other side (writing job adverts), and yet make the system as a whole completely inefficient.

Very predictable

There's an army of people out there telling us change is impossible.

Only that it is not.

10 years ago electric vehicles plaid almost no role in global car sales.

Today one in five cars sold worldwide is electric.

De anekdotiek regeert. Ik betwijfel of de aflevering ook vermeldt dat bijna de helft van de mensen die recht heeft op hulp ze niet eens aanvraagt, bv.

China’s CO2 emissions have been flat or falling for past 18 months, analysis finds World’s biggest polluter on track to hit peak emissions target early but miss goal for cutting carbon intensity

Good morning to all those people who wasted the last decade saying, "there's no point tackling climate change in the UK, because China."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...