Ralf Ekrowski
@ralfekrowski.bsky.social
210 followers 250 following 2.1K posts
Born in Ahlen, shaped in Münster, now settled on Germany’s coast. Lawyer. Focused on politics, urban development, and democracy. "Humans built SUVs to feel powerful. They only look smaller inside" www.lennyslaterne.de @blogkrowski.bsky.social
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ralfekrowski.bsky.social
Authoritarianism spreads when democracy grows tired.
In Germany, the AfD rises by selling fear as identity.
In the U.S., Trumpism does the same.
Both thrive on fatigue.
Time to rebuild a culture of courage — one story, one town, one act at a time.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
America Needs a Mass Movement—Now
Without one, America may sink into autocracy for decades.
www.theatlantic.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
This was never a war — it was a confrontation with terrorists.
Civilians became collateral for both sides, and now Hamas applies the same logic to its own people.
Violence, once justified as resistance, has become governance by fear.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Clans and armed groups challenging Hamas in Gaza
As the Gaza war dragged on, a diminished Hamas faced growing internal challenges to its control of Gaza from long-standing rivals, many of them affiliated with powerful local clans.
www.reuters.com
Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
I’m wrestling with WordPress again – menus, updates, plugins.
It’s messy. It’s mine.
Should I really let an algorithm decide how I look on the internet?
www.wired.com/story/best-w...
Want to Start a Website? These Are the Best Website Builders
Don't fuss around with files and servers. Just use one of these WIRED-tested website builders.
www.wired.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
The gods of consumption and media offer no real faith — only distraction.
Old religions can destroy, but without them, the void grows darker.
The French Revolution tried to abolish belief. It created a cult instead.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times.
Opinion | Why So Many Gen Z-ers Are Drawn to Conservative Christianity
www.nytimes.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
Peace will last only if Gaza’s neighbors grow into something larger than themselves —
a regional union, not just a ceasefire.
The EU was born from exhaustion. The Middle East still waits for that moment.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
One Era Ends in Gaza, and Another Begins
A moment for radical hope
www.theatlantic.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
Yes. WWII didn’t end with diplomacy but with surrender — only then could rebuilding begin.
Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
michaelburchert.bsky.social
Use it as material, not as fuel to make materials / to make stuff go.
Bunch of drywall solutions from plant fibers, straw, hemp, typha
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
While Spotify pays fractions of a cent, The Life of a Showgirl sells vinyl, CDs, prints, and sweaters — and keeps people employed.
Pop capitalism meets the anti-Spotify movement, and for once, everybody gets paid.
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025...
Buy This Album. Now Buy It in Green.
Here’s how Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl just shattered sales records.
www.theatlantic.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
The leaves are saying goodbye.
Golden summer on the balcony
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
In den Niederlanden gibt es keine Helmpflicht. Die Sicherheit kommt durch Infrastruktur (Radwege), nicht den Helm. Das Auto ist das Problem. Eine Helmpflicht würde bis zu 40% vom Radfahren abhalten. Das schadet der Gesundheit und macht das System unsicherer.
Bessere Infrastruktur schützt alle.
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
There’s a reason I left X and Facebook — too much noise, too much rage.
But reading how right-wing influencers now dominate those spaces, it still leaves a question:
Can we just stay away — and let them own the room?
I’m not sure.
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
Trump Wants to Take Over Cities. Influencers Are Giving Him the Fuel to Do It
The Trump administration has built its own content mill to justify its law-and-order immigration agenda.
www.wired.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
In Bremen, mayors from the U.S. and Germany meet — Republicans, Democrats, independents.
They talk about tariffs, democracy, and common sense.
A reminder that America is more than Trump:
Pragmatism, decency, dialogue.
(Sorry, PW)
www.faz.net/aktuell/poli...
„Urban Diplomacy“ in Bremen: US-Bürgermeister gegen Trumps Zölle
US-Bürgermeister treffen ihre deutschen Kollegen in Bremen, sie reden über Zölle und die Rolle der Kommunen. Auch die reisenden Republikaner lassen durchblicken: Sie sind keine Trump-Fans.
www.faz.net
Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski
governor.ca.gov
Diane Keaton was a true Californian. She was a self-described oddball, uniquely stylish, deeply creative, funny, and an acting legend who could steal the screen in comic and dramatic roles alike. She was in a class all her own, an icon.
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
From a German perspective, it’s hard to grasp:
Trump follows an agenda that once turned Germany into hell
for everyone who didn’t salute the flag.
Even his pose as “peacemaker” fits the script.
All the studies of Hitler’s Germany —
and still, the world learns nothing.
Trump’s tragedy: the US becomes an autocracy and the presidency, a dictatorship
Blood-and-soil style violent nationalism infuses everything the Trump administration is doing.
theconversation.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
It’s not just Russia, and not just China.
We’re building the same system — just better designed, better marketed, and willingly embraced.
Instead of leaving the phone on the shelf, we carry it like a leash.
We speak of freedom while welding the bars of our own digital prison.
Putin Has a New Tool to Monitor Russians
Russia is pushing a “super app” for citizens. What could possibly go wrong?
www.theatlantic.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
Humans never really changed.
We’ve always gathered around the fire to share stories.
Once it was TV, then social media.
But the fire today is just a recording on a screen —
it flickers, but it doesn’t warm anymore.
Is ‘Going Viral’ Dead?
www.nytimes.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
The Gaza ceasefire was negotiated by envoys — not by Trump himself.
Yet his unpredictability gave the talks their edge.
The question is whether exhaustion and image politics can sustain peace — or if this is just a cinematic pause before the next act.
www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
How Trump Pushed Israel and Hamas to Yes
The president’s unconventional efforts have paid off in the Middle East, at least for now.
www.theatlantic.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
In my hometown, Bremerhaven, traffic is the sacred cow.
Public health is the sacrifice —
especially for those who can’t choose where they live.
To keep cars “flowing,” people’s well-being is treated as expendable.

fortune.com/well/article...
Commuting may be harming your mental health, study says | Fortune Well
The sound of traffic is not only linked to increased stress and anxiety, researchers found, it also muddies the mental health benefits of nature noise.
fortune.com
ralfekrowski.bsky.social
I was at the theater last night — To Be or Not to Be.
In the play, the actors flee Nazi Europe, hoping for safety in America.
The line still echoes:
“They won’t turn us away, not after what we’ve been through.”
But in Trump’s America, that’s no longer certain.

www.nordsee-zeitung.de/deutschland-...
Lacher über den Führer: „Sein oder Nichtsein“ hat Premiere in Bremerhaven
Der Auftritt ist kurz. Doch für den Führer gibt es reichlich Lacher. „Sein oder Nichtsein“ ist ein Klassiker der Komödienkunst, eine Satire auf die Nazis. Das Stück hatte am Sonnabend im Stadttheater ...
www.nordsee-zeitung.de