This is not the first time a mass killer was dress up as the Joker. So was James Holmes, who killed twelve people in Colorado in July 2012.

The most boring months:

1. November
2. January
3. February

The British mouse tries to make the European elephant move with threats that would only hurt itself. Sweet hubris.

Now Prince Charles takes his environmental bona fides to the world stage. I’ve always liked Charles. He’s doing his own thing with the cards he was handed.

The island of La Palma has seen 2,708 buildings destroyed since the eruption began and has experienced more than 70 earthquakes in the last twenty-four hours.

“The outspoken evolutionary biologist and author was stripped of his 1996 Humanist of the Year award in April for drawing comparisons between trans people and the ‘Black-identifying’ white woman Rachel Dolezal,” Pink News writes.

I’ve always seen the resemblance between hardcore atheists and the religious fanatics. The seem to target the minorities because they’re so convinced that “nature” is on their side.

Liron Lavi Turkenich has designed a writing system combining Hebrew and Arabic characters as a final project in college, which has now become the focal point of Israel’s pavilion at the 2020 World Expo in Dubai.

The study also finds that there are very few prolific liars.

His novel, The Promise, portraits a white South African family navigating the end of apartheid, the Guardian writes.

German media giant Bertelsmann, that owns Penguin Random House, the largest American publisher, now wants to buy New York-based Simon & Schuster, too.

And that’s not even the most bizarre thing. This is:

“Almost a quarter of white evangelicals (23%) believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory—more than any other religious group. QAnon believers maintain that the government, media and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex-trafficking operation.”

The party, which holds the prime ministerial office, has elected its new leader, the second woman in the role.

“What is most striking is the cramped and precarious nature of this room, which is something between a dormitory and a storage room.”

The Guardian gives a fascinating look into the lives of Roman slaves.

I can reveal that not only the British have sex in the Maspalomas dunes. But it’s a problem for wildlife, so this article in Daily Mail has some meaning beyond the catchy subject.

Findings in a new study published in Science Advances could help many people battle cancer.

People are alarmed by the climate crisis, but most believe they are already doing more to preserve the planet than anyone else, the Guardian reports. And 72% “don’t think there is an agreement among experts on the best solutions to preserve the planet”.

Yesterday, I got an email from the management of an Israeli gay social-media app. Turns out Iran’s secret service has hacked the app and stolen users’ contact information. 🤬🖕🇮🇷

The volcano in the Canary Islands shows no sign of slowing down.

The new centre-right government has been formed by representatives of two election alliances, which successfully challenged Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s populist party in October’s general elections.

Sources inside the Polish government claim that it’s ready to risk a head-on confrontation with the European Commission. “We’re going to call their bluff and get the money from the EU recovery fund anyway,” they say.

No! If they can’t follow the rules, don’t give them any money.

From the Guardian:

Belarusian authorities have escorted an estimated 1,000 people, most of whom are from the Middle East, to the Polish border in an escalation of a deadly crisis that has already left people desperate to reach the EU trapped between borders and at least eight dead due to exposure.

And:

Gunshots can be heard in one video posted to social media. It is not clear whether anyone was injured as a result. In the footage, a voice off-camera says that Belarusian border guards had opened fire, possibly in the air.

The dictator Lukashenko is an immoral tyrant. It’s time for him to go.

I don’t know if I have shared this 2019 study already, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Not least the part about patriotism linked to support for the EU.

I watched the first episode of the new series, set ten years after the last one, and it’s promising.

He opposition seems to gain support in Hungary leading up to the election next year. Orbán shows signs of encasing desperation. If we’re lucky, Hungary will develop its democracy once he’s gone.

The mouse keeps roaring. Meanwhile, Ireland has begun making plans for a possible trade war between the EU and Britain. I don’t understand what the British government thinks it can win on this.

That’s what happens when you pour underfunded money into the economic system. People love the idea of government providing cheap money, but it’d never comes cheap. It’s Chapter One in “Economy for Dummies”.

So, America’s conservative Republicans continue their obsession with bathroom. I don’t get what the problem is. If people behave badly in the bathroom, regardless of gender, then it’s a problem. Otherwise it’s not. If you’re afraid someone will peek at your private parts, use a toilet booth.

This should be a reminder for all those who still think nationalism is a good thing. About 17,600,000 people lost their lives because of nationalism.

I read an article on the subject today and realised that I’m quite patriotic. I like many things about Sweden. But I’m not a nationalist since I like Sweden because we’re an active part of Europe and embraces globalisation.

After reading this article in the Wall Street Journal, I wonder if Putin really wants a war. Over the years, he has supported every effort by internet trolls to undermine the EU, and this will most likely continue as the plan—obviously—is designed to turn Europeans at east other.

Shabbat comes early on Fridays during the Swedish winter months. Here it is, at 4pm—שבת שלום.

I just learned that Swedish politician Jörn Svensson has died. He was a communist and I had little in common with him ideologically. However, he was one of the very first MPs to fight for gay rights in Sweden. For this he ought to be recognised and remembered.

The religious group is mostly known for the mass suicide in March 1997, but there’s a lot more to it, which HBO’s documentary impressively explains. If you haven’t seen it—do.

Read More

A poster I saw in a restaurant last night.

The new colour is seen at the bottom of the image.

More on this story at BBC News.

Seems the volcano in the Canary Islands is calming down. The eruption has been ongoing since 19 September.

In Le Monde, I read about Péter Márki-Zay, the appointed leader of a coalition of six parties ranging from the left to a party from the extreme right to face Viktor Orbán in the 2022 legislative elections. Let’s hope he’s successful.

Oops! 💰👎😀

Tobias Rapp seems to think so in his article in Der Spiegel.

The Cold War 2.0 is unfolding. Frightening.

Politico has more.

…but he wants to protect Hungarian homophobia. Pathetic man.

It doesn’t have to be a big issue that Hungary ban same-sex marriage as long as they recognise such marriages formed in other EU countries.

Greece’s Anna Diamantopoulou has been appointed president of a high-level EU expert group on the future of the welfare state, Kathimerini reports.

Personally, I’m not sure the welfare state is neither sustainable nor ethical. People ought to pay for any insurance. We can’t have a system whereby people get government money without ever contributing to government funding.

…it’s that Europe doesn’t hear as much about Nigel Farage anymore.

Following growing geopolitical pressure, Germany is wary of its reliance on natural gas from Russia. Good! Let Putin keep his gas.

A 72-year-old man was found dead on the Canary Island after having entered the exclusion zone to clear ash from his roof, El País reports.

McNaughton is a Trump-loving lunatic of a kitsch artist. His latest painting just might be the most hilarious yet. 🤣

More at Wonkette.

Source: Politiken.

Party	Seats
	2017	2021
Red–Green Alliance	11	15
Social Democrats	15	10
Conservative party	3	8
Social Liberal Party	5	7
Socialist Party	5	6
Liberal Party	5	4
The Alternative	6	2
Danish Party	3	1
The New Right	0	1
Liberal Alliance	2	1

Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet runs an interview blaming the country’s EU-record in gang violence on liberalism. It’s absurd. And wrong. Being criminal is a choice, not something freedom forces you to become.

I’ve been watching Cullen Hoback’s HBO documentary on the far-right QAnon conspiracists, and it’s both frightening and fascinating. Internet has provided the most outrageous psychopaths with the tools to overhaul governments.

Today, 19 November, is the International Men’s Day. A day to celebrate all things male, I suppose. Cheers, guys!

The Turkish lira has lost more than a third of its value since March and is the worst-performing major emerging market currency this year so far, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The depreciating lira is a self-inflicted wound for Mr. Erdogan, who has pushed for lower interest rates as part of an unconventional economic strategy that he argues will encourage growth. Thursday’s rate cut was the third in three months and came after the president fired a series of senior officials who opposed his unorthodox economic vision.

“It’s just crazy, there’s zero justification for this move as there’s been zero justification for the rate cuts we’ve seen so far this year,” said Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management. “Erdogan is running monetary policy on his own.”

Once again we witness how a politician thinks a sound economy can be dictated.

The far-right party, established by new and old Nazis in the 1980s, has decided to hire an academic to write a so-called white paper on its history. I’m not a fan, but this is a welcome move. Could be interesting.

Last night, I saw Aida at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. It was the first opera I have seen live in close to two years.

Sweden’s government proposes that 12-year-old trans people be allowed to change their gender in the population register. That’s good news. But the ongoing debate has reviled some really nasty ideas about trans people. It’s the same old arguments that homophobes used to combat equality, now portrayed as feminism. I’m disgusted.

The new leader of Sweden’s Social Democrats, Magdalena Andersson, has failed to get support for her premiership.

Boris Johnson praises the cartoon pig in a speech. Hilarious.

The Church made the decision with the votes 127–103. It’s absurd but expected as the former state church has in recent years positioned itself as a bastion of anti-Semitism.

Today could prove to be an exiting day in Swedish politics as Parliament is to vote on the Government’s budget bill and Magdalena Andersson as new prime minister.

“Once dwindling in numbers, mountain gorillas are the only great ape whose numbers are now on the rise, attracting well-heeled tourists and boosting the local economy,” CBS News reports.

The eruption of the Volcano is making the island larger. I guess the maps must be redrawn.

Eve Barlow in Tablet Magazine:

Anti-Semitism always brought me closer to my Jewish identity, fighting harder to align my multitudes. But in America, anti-Semitism seems to render American Jews further from their Jewish identity, and closer to a desire to blend in—as leftists, as allies, as Americans.

The article is a year old, but it’s worth reading nonetheless.

It’s been an absurd day. Only hours after Magdalena Andersson was elected new prime minister, her budget bill was voted down. This led the coalition partner, the Green Party, to resign from government, which in turn led to Magdalena Andersson resigning on the same day she was elected.

“British experts have sounded the alarm over a new Covid variant believed to have emerged in Botswana that is the most mutated version of the virus yet,” Daily Mail reports.

…and so is the virus variant from Southern Africa. We’re living in a Stephen King sequel.

It’s not often a cover is better than the original, but this is it.

One country less for Elizabeth II to rule. Charles will be there to celebrate (!).

Researcher find that the typically monogamous birds seek new partners when conditions are harsher than usual. No need to cuddle in the nest, I guess.

2016 TR54 is set to pass by the planet at a distance of around 6.5 million kilometres, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Nothing too exciting, but some new names. The most interesting is that Sweden in Lina Axelsson Kihlbom gets its first trans woman as minister.