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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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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

youtu.be/lfLKHY52ERc?...

Dr. Jane Goodall’s Final Message To The World | Famous Last Words | Netflix

YouTube video by Still Watching Netflix

youtu.be

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 12m

Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski

Michael Burchert @michaelburchert.bsky.social · 23h

Use it as material, not as fuel to make materials / to make stuff go.

Bunch of drywall solutions from plant fibers, straw, hemp, typha

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 18m

Trump seems to have learned from Gaza: we live in a world where threats work better than diplomacy. Sobering.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Ukraine war briefing: Moscow voices ‘extreme concern’ at Trump threat to send Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv

US president says he may warn Russian counterpart ‘look, if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks’. What we know on day 1,328

www.theguardian.com

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 31m

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

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 47m

The leaves are saying goodbye.
Golden summer on the balcony

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21h

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.

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21h

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 21h

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 23h

youtu.be/BGvwvxA83Cs?...

Leonard Cohen - Bird On The Wire (Official Live in London 2008)

YouTube video by LeonardCohenVEVO

youtu.be

Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 1d

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.

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 23h

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 23h

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 23h

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 1d

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

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

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

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

Trump brokered peace in Gaza — and unleashed retribution at home.
You can make peace to end wars.
Or to consolidate power.
It’s too early to tell which one this is.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

The Trump Split Screen: A Peacemaker Abroad, a Retribution Campaign at Home

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ralf Ekrowski

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela

Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.

www.theatlantic.com

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Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

youtu.be/lfLKHY52ERc?...

Dr. Jane Goodall’s Final Message To The World | Famous Last Words | Netflix

YouTube video by Still Watching Netflix

youtu.be

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

www.ctvnews.ca/world/articl...

Jane Goodall’s final wish: Blast Trump, Musk and Putin to space

In a Netflix interview aired posthumously, Jane Goodall, who died last week at 91, said she’d gladly send Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Benjamin Netanyahu off the planet.

www.ctvnews.ca

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

When Los Angeles considers declaring a state of emergency — not for fires, but to protect its people from federal raids — something shifts.
This might be the turning point: where local democracy starts breaking the spiral of a tyrant state.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

L.A. County considers declaring state of emergency to fight back against ICE raids

The move would pave the way for an eviction moratorium for households that have lost income due to the immigration raids.

www.latimes.com

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 2d

Behind the statistics of law enforcement lies a simple truth:
The far right wants states built on hate.
That’s what unites them – from Washington to Budapest.
They never hid it before the vote.
Now they’re delivering exactly what their voters asked for: fear, exclusion, obedience.

Trump’s Immigration Push Diverts U.S. Agents From Drug, Money and Sex-Crime Cases

Federal investigators are resigning, and morale is low, as they juggle complex cases and detain migrants.

www.wsj.com

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 3d

When a country braces for tariffs just because its Nobel committee might not honor Trump, you see how fragile peace becomes when built on wounded egos.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize

US president may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, analyst says

www.theguardian.com

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 3d

Maybe that’s the lesson: If you address Trump the right way, even his wish to be written into history can lead to something good.
How he’ll be remembered – that will be up to history.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Trump’s Nobel Thirst Is Actually Great for the World

The president’s ego inspires plenty of bad choices, but his desire for a Peace Prize is proving useful.

www.theatlantic.com

Ralf Ekrowski @ralfekrowski.bsky.social · 3d

I’m grateful for the people in Israel and Gaza – every hour without suffering matters.
Whether this becomes peace, or just a pause in a war of faith, depends on Iran.
As long as Tehran feeds the “resistance,” every ceasefire remains fragile and every joy cautious.

‘Trump is like a juggernaut’: how the Gaza ceasefire deal was done

Sidelines chat at UN was turning point for US president, but others also have right to claim role in end of two-year war