Stef Adriaenssens

I thought of a paradox: the most Kremlin-friendly populists (soon) seem to rule Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. All countries that resisted and suffered from the Kremlin's iron fist in postwar central Europe. Am I right here? Any central Europe experts have an explanation?

The role of begging in the survival strategies of Brussels street p... Introduction A good thirty years ago, on 1 March 1993, begging and homelessness were decriminalised after many centuries. Although the phenomenon of begging is no longer a criminal offence, it has ...

One major challenge in understanding the lives of homeless people, is the lack of reliable and encompassing data. One source that is underexploited are the data produced by outreach organisations. Grateful to Diogenes for the collaboration!
doi.org/10.4000/14tnx

Sure, I come from elsewhere. But isn't the hopeful thing that contradicts the 'nothing changes' that these guys actually got suspended?

Every monolingual that thinks the other guy is stupid, should go and learn a language (mostly they don't).
Sounding silly is at best a phase 2 concern. It starts with 'weird' grammar rules, words to memorise, combinations that are unacceptable. Bref, the first obstacle is not being understood.

Geweld, ja, maar terrorisme?Ik zou toch wat uitkijken met het gebruik van 'terroristische acties'. Die inflatie in het gebruik van het concept wordt op dit eigenste moment gebruikt in de VS om andere stemmen te criminaliseren.

ABC barred from Trump’s UK press conference after his clash with Australian journalist John Lyons Exclusive: London bureau of Australia’s national broadcaster informed accreditation removed for ‘logistical reasons’

Once bitten, twice shy? The country that invented appeasement does it again.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/s...

Any academic plebiscite on the death penalty for reviewer 2 would win by a landslide.

The odds that I have a coherent worldview may not be high, but it is immeasurably higher than me being coherent in the textiles that happen to meet me.

Wow...

Soms is het leven gemakkelijk. Wat voor België opgaat, geldt ook voor Nederland: klein land, veel buitenland. Materiaal genoeg om over te kankeren. Goed voor hen!

YouTube video by FX Networks Episode 1 - Neverland | Alien: Earth – The Official Podcast

Great observation from Noah Hawley in the first podcast accompanying the series.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFLJ...

"The Dunning-Kruger effect applies to smart people also. It's not just that stupid people don't know they're stupid; smart people don't know they're stupid. What happens at a certain level of wealth is, you start to believe that the genius that made you rich applies to everything."

Reading for pleasure falls by 40% in the US Decline over two decades ‘deeply concerning’, say researchers of study into daily habits of Americans

Wow....
Reading for pleasure falls by 40% in the US - on.ft.com/4lBx9yG via @FT

For the foodies: palate action.
For friends of the police: porcine action.
For melomaniacs: plagal action.
For the zoanthropes: plushy action.

You have to give it to them Americans: irritate your EU and Ukrainian 'allies', give a thumbs up to your kindred spirit, and kiss up to the bully. All of that with choosing a location. Faut le faire.

Waiting for a strange press conference, my train of thoughts drives me from Munich to Canossa.
But hey, he didn't have to go to the dictator's crib, and no ashes to see in the POTUS coiffure. So there's hope.

Opinion | A Warning From Across the Atlantic for Both Democrats and Republicans

Strange that "across the Atlantic" just means the anglophone mother country across the pond. Could it be related to monolingualism?
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/o...

What a progress. The 19th century saying was 'open a school now, close a prison in 20 years". (Or at least, the French said so.)

Like the smell of two-stroke oil: instant saudade 😃

Trump demands homeless people 'immediately' move out of Washington DC Trump says homeless people must go "far" from the nation's capital, as part of his anti-crime plan, but the mayor pushes back.

Long time ago, we drove through Morocco by car. Panhandling in every town, except for the capital. We imagined the king could not bear the sight of misery, hence the Maghreb-style Potemkin town of Rabat.
Now another prospective king plans the same ..
share.google/wBM7WtByk2py...

The very reliable fiscal law is: if the taxman asks for more money and taxpayers can see it, they will complain. This law works for all people in all classes. No rocket science.

Pretty straightforward, almost elegant, especially for a man not known for being a wordsmith.

...presuming that Tigranes would react more effectively when knowing he's attacked. I am not sure this is the case for this 21st-century version.

Kavanaugh and Behan, both larger than life. Thanks for reminding me!

"Free speech for me, but not for thee" sums it up nicely.

"A fraudster always makes the loudest noise".
VERY interesting observation, revealing the rigid thinking of an 8-year old who sipped from his dad's whiskey. As we all know: decibels imply deviance!

Maybe she's right: thieving as the backbone of English-ness?

Leaving Montréal after the SASE conference. I came to the conclusion I could be a Canadian of sorts: Belgians are the little guy among neighbours, speak English and French, have an even love-hate relationship with both culturally, and are neither Anglo nor French. Great to be stuck in between!

Ondineke klaagt: waarom spreekt gij over die fafoelen van Gent, en zwijgt ge over Oilsjt?

Using time series graphs to make causal claims be like