A Foreigner in Brussels
@afib.bsky.social
Working with (but not for) the EU institutions.
Policy, current affairs, governance, data.
Private life: family, running, hiking.
Policy, current affairs, governance, data.
Private life: family, running, hiking.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
11 November 1918 | A French Jewish woman, Victoire Jeanne Marx, was born in Brunoy.
On 20 July 1942 she was deported from Angers to #Auschwitz in a transport of 827 Jews. She did not survive.
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Women at Auschwitz: https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_kobiety_en/
On 20 July 1942 she was deported from Angers to #Auschwitz in a transport of 827 Jews. She did not survive.
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Women at Auschwitz: https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_kobiety_en/
November 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
11 November 1918 | A French Jewish woman, Victoire Jeanne Marx, was born in Brunoy.
On 20 July 1942 she was deported from Angers to #Auschwitz in a transport of 827 Jews. She did not survive.
---
Women at Auschwitz: https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_kobiety_en/
On 20 July 1942 she was deported from Angers to #Auschwitz in a transport of 827 Jews. She did not survive.
---
Women at Auschwitz: https://lekcja.auschwitz.org/2022_kobiety_en/
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Eight Senate Democrats flipped the Trump White House and the GOP from panicky infighting to confident gloating.
Congrats.
Congrats.
November 11, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Eight Senate Democrats flipped the Trump White House and the GOP from panicky infighting to confident gloating.
Congrats.
Congrats.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
10 November 1926 | Norwegian Jewish girl, Sylvia Annie Markus, was born in Elverum.
She arrived at #Auschwitz on 1 December 1942 and was murdered in a gas chamber after arrival selection.
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The first two gas chambers created near Auschwitz II-Birkenau: https://youtu.be/Rr6lF75fDmU
She arrived at #Auschwitz on 1 December 1942 and was murdered in a gas chamber after arrival selection.
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The first two gas chambers created near Auschwitz II-Birkenau: https://youtu.be/Rr6lF75fDmU
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
10 November 1926 | Norwegian Jewish girl, Sylvia Annie Markus, was born in Elverum.
She arrived at #Auschwitz on 1 December 1942 and was murdered in a gas chamber after arrival selection.
---
The first two gas chambers created near Auschwitz II-Birkenau: https://youtu.be/Rr6lF75fDmU
She arrived at #Auschwitz on 1 December 1942 and was murdered in a gas chamber after arrival selection.
---
The first two gas chambers created near Auschwitz II-Birkenau: https://youtu.be/Rr6lF75fDmU
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Elon has never experienced this and neither have his biggest fans but now they can create these visuals with the help of a computermachine
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Elon has never experienced this and neither have his biggest fans but now they can create these visuals with the help of a computermachine
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Tulsi Gabbard was too quiet.
Trump’s other historically awful dept leaders have been heard from—RFK Jr. cutting vaccines and spreading disease, Hegseth doing political purges and illegal strikes, etc.—but not the Putin-Assad sympathizer DNI.
Now we know: she’s busy curbing US counterintelligence.
Trump’s other historically awful dept leaders have been heard from—RFK Jr. cutting vaccines and spreading disease, Hegseth doing political purges and illegal strikes, etc.—but not the Putin-Assad sympathizer DNI.
Now we know: she’s busy curbing US counterintelligence.
Tulsi Gabbard is trying to take control over counterintelligence from the FBI. It's not going great. A scoop with @shaneharris.bsky.social
Tulsi Gabbard’s Quest to Bring the ‘Deep State’ Under Her Control
A memo circulating within the federal government lays out her office’s reasoning for wanting to transfer counterintelligence work away from the FBI.
www.theatlantic.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Tulsi Gabbard was too quiet.
Trump’s other historically awful dept leaders have been heard from—RFK Jr. cutting vaccines and spreading disease, Hegseth doing political purges and illegal strikes, etc.—but not the Putin-Assad sympathizer DNI.
Now we know: she’s busy curbing US counterintelligence.
Trump’s other historically awful dept leaders have been heard from—RFK Jr. cutting vaccines and spreading disease, Hegseth doing political purges and illegal strikes, etc.—but not the Putin-Assad sympathizer DNI.
Now we know: she’s busy curbing US counterintelligence.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Happy “not sure if the President or the Supreme Court has proven themselves to be more wretched”
Day
POTUS will celebrate by peeling the backings from a dozen more fake gold decoupage and sticking them to the *outside* of the WH
SCOTUS will have a normal venal weekend
You+me: Help someone today
Day
POTUS will celebrate by peeling the backings from a dozen more fake gold decoupage and sticking them to the *outside* of the WH
SCOTUS will have a normal venal weekend
You+me: Help someone today
November 8, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Happy “not sure if the President or the Supreme Court has proven themselves to be more wretched”
Day
POTUS will celebrate by peeling the backings from a dozen more fake gold decoupage and sticking them to the *outside* of the WH
SCOTUS will have a normal venal weekend
You+me: Help someone today
Day
POTUS will celebrate by peeling the backings from a dozen more fake gold decoupage and sticking them to the *outside* of the WH
SCOTUS will have a normal venal weekend
You+me: Help someone today
But will you say the same when, God forbid, Farage wins a resounding majority as PM in Britain? Be honest.
We are just out of the election where a resounding majority of the voting public endorsed Catherine Connolly and we are already seeing think pieces about how the Irish public can be brought to see the error of their ways. This strategy of chiding the electorate is as offensive as it is ineffective.
October 29, 2025 at 5:11 AM
But will you say the same when, God forbid, Farage wins a resounding majority as PM in Britain? Be honest.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Lights are on but nobody is home.
We have a broken Roomba for President.
We have a broken Roomba for President.
October 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Lights are on but nobody is home.
We have a broken Roomba for President.
We have a broken Roomba for President.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
It costs ~$70 to produce a year’s supply of insulin.
Yet, the average annual cost of insulin went from $2,864 in 2012 to $5,705 in 2016 to $18,000 in 2025. A 25,714% markup. That isn’t inflation or supply chain—It’s corporate greed.
Now—California will sell insulin for $11. Make this nationwide!
Yet, the average annual cost of insulin went from $2,864 in 2012 to $5,705 in 2016 to $18,000 in 2025. A 25,714% markup. That isn’t inflation or supply chain—It’s corporate greed.
Now—California will sell insulin for $11. Make this nationwide!
October 17, 2025 at 3:43 AM
It costs ~$70 to produce a year’s supply of insulin.
Yet, the average annual cost of insulin went from $2,864 in 2012 to $5,705 in 2016 to $18,000 in 2025. A 25,714% markup. That isn’t inflation or supply chain—It’s corporate greed.
Now—California will sell insulin for $11. Make this nationwide!
Yet, the average annual cost of insulin went from $2,864 in 2012 to $5,705 in 2016 to $18,000 in 2025. A 25,714% markup. That isn’t inflation or supply chain—It’s corporate greed.
Now—California will sell insulin for $11. Make this nationwide!
We are used to seeing people who are in prison for multiple murders being called "political prisoners" by certain parts of the press and by certain radical movements. It is a physical kick in the gut to see this from someone I've long respected as an honest and clear-sighted political commentator.
Hostages and political prisoners freed is an unambiguous good. I hope they and their families can find relief, and eventually move past the trauma.
October 13, 2025 at 12:20 PM
We are used to seeing people who are in prison for multiple murders being called "political prisoners" by certain parts of the press and by certain radical movements. It is a physical kick in the gut to see this from someone I've long respected as an honest and clear-sighted political commentator.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Glad to see Nigel Farage has finally remembered Nathan Gill, former leader of Reform in Wales - found guilty of taking bribes from Russia.
Maybe he'll now remember how much he took from Putin's propaganda broadcaster Russia Today for all his TV appearances when he was a MEP?
Maybe he'll now remember how much he took from Putin's propaganda broadcaster Russia Today for all his TV appearances when he was a MEP?
October 11, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Glad to see Nigel Farage has finally remembered Nathan Gill, former leader of Reform in Wales - found guilty of taking bribes from Russia.
Maybe he'll now remember how much he took from Putin's propaganda broadcaster Russia Today for all his TV appearances when he was a MEP?
Maybe he'll now remember how much he took from Putin's propaganda broadcaster Russia Today for all his TV appearances when he was a MEP?
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Watching this morning 👇🏻
Via @afib.bsky.social - to understand how they accuse Israel of genocide merely by existing, listen to this conversation between Adam Louis Klein and Haviv Rettig Gur
youtube.com/watch?v=qe_p...
Via @afib.bsky.social - to understand how they accuse Israel of genocide merely by existing, listen to this conversation between Adam Louis Klein and Haviv Rettig Gur
youtube.com/watch?v=qe_p...
Episode 37: The genocidal claim of genocide with Adam Louis-Klein
YouTube video by Ask Haviv Anything
youtube.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Watching this morning 👇🏻
Via @afib.bsky.social - to understand how they accuse Israel of genocide merely by existing, listen to this conversation between Adam Louis Klein and Haviv Rettig Gur
youtube.com/watch?v=qe_p...
Via @afib.bsky.social - to understand how they accuse Israel of genocide merely by existing, listen to this conversation between Adam Louis Klein and Haviv Rettig Gur
youtube.com/watch?v=qe_p...
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Donald Trump is breaching the Constitution and breaking the law.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
October 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Donald Trump is breaching the Constitution and breaking the law.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Nineteen years ago, on October 7, 2006, Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated by Putin's hitmen.
She was the first to tell the truth about Russia's mass crimes in Chechnya, which foreshadowed those in Syria, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere. They could have been prevented.
Almost no one listened to her.
She was the first to tell the truth about Russia's mass crimes in Chechnya, which foreshadowed those in Syria, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere. They could have been prevented.
Almost no one listened to her.
October 7, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Nineteen years ago, on October 7, 2006, Anna Politkovskaya was assassinated by Putin's hitmen.
She was the first to tell the truth about Russia's mass crimes in Chechnya, which foreshadowed those in Syria, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere. They could have been prevented.
Almost no one listened to her.
She was the first to tell the truth about Russia's mass crimes in Chechnya, which foreshadowed those in Syria, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere. They could have been prevented.
Almost no one listened to her.
This is a very big part of why we're descending into authoritarianism. Liberals have spent a decade extremely bored by the need to say obvious things and stand by simple principles.
A naked descent into authoritarianism is weirdly boring because what’s being debated is fundamentally uninteresting. Is the antifa legion burning down Portlan real or not? Well, let’s have someone look out the window over there. No? Okay. Facts are settled. It either matters or it doesn’t.
October 7, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.
Community action works.
Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
Community action works.
Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
October 5, 2025 at 5:24 PM
This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.
Community action works.
Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
Community action works.
Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
My message to Kristi Noem is clear: Get out of Chicago.
October 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
My message to Kristi Noem is clear: Get out of Chicago.
Reading NYT about a year from now
October 5, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reading NYT about a year from now
Normalisation of fascism.
A friend of mine said they hadn’t heard about the ICE raid on Chicago apartments when we chatted this morning. Shocked I asked where he got his news and he said CNN. I checked around 9AM and they didn’t have a story on it.
A story finally showed up around noon today. Three days after the incident.
A story finally showed up around noon today. Three days after the incident.
37 people arrested and American kids separated from parents after ICE raid at Chicago apartments | CNN
Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that has left tenants and neighbors shaken.
www.cnn.com
October 4, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Normalisation of fascism.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
The story of 2024 is this: Trump had a plan to destroy American government called Project 2025, which had, literally, not a typo, a 4% approval rating. He lied constantly and said he wouldn't do it.
Then he entered office and immediately implemented AN EVEN MORE EXTREME VERSION OF IT.
Then he entered office and immediately implemented AN EVEN MORE EXTREME VERSION OF IT.
October 3, 2025 at 2:14 AM
The story of 2024 is this: Trump had a plan to destroy American government called Project 2025, which had, literally, not a typo, a 4% approval rating. He lied constantly and said he wouldn't do it.
Then he entered office and immediately implemented AN EVEN MORE EXTREME VERSION OF IT.
Then he entered office and immediately implemented AN EVEN MORE EXTREME VERSION OF IT.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
The EU and NATO used to debate if they should defend Ukrainian territory or not. Now the they are debating if they should defend their own territory or not.
October 2, 2025 at 3:30 AM
The EU and NATO used to debate if they should defend Ukrainian territory or not. Now the they are debating if they should defend their own territory or not.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Much of the public, and apparently White House, doesn't know that many of the US military's general and flag officers are intellectuals. Study history and theory, get that war, politics, economics, and culture intertwine, etc.
Or maybe the White House does, and that's what they're trying to change.
Or maybe the White House does, and that's what they're trying to change.
October 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Much of the public, and apparently White House, doesn't know that many of the US military's general and flag officers are intellectuals. Study history and theory, get that war, politics, economics, and culture intertwine, etc.
Or maybe the White House does, and that's what they're trying to change.
Or maybe the White House does, and that's what they're trying to change.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
We must pay billions to farmers
Because we cut off their customers with tariffs
And pay billions to Argentina
Whose farmers are selling to the customers we forfeited
Because that is America First
Because we cut off their customers with tariffs
And pay billions to Argentina
Whose farmers are selling to the customers we forfeited
Because that is America First
October 1, 2025 at 4:17 AM
We must pay billions to farmers
Because we cut off their customers with tariffs
And pay billions to Argentina
Whose farmers are selling to the customers we forfeited
Because that is America First
Because we cut off their customers with tariffs
And pay billions to Argentina
Whose farmers are selling to the customers we forfeited
Because that is America First
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
Please - stop doing the screenshot no link thing on Bluesky. This platform does not punish you for posting a URL. You picked up the habit from Meta apps? Stop doing Mark Z's bidding. Link ESPECIALLY to authors, reporters, bloggers, etc. where you quote the work.
September 30, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Please - stop doing the screenshot no link thing on Bluesky. This platform does not punish you for posting a URL. You picked up the habit from Meta apps? Stop doing Mark Z's bidding. Link ESPECIALLY to authors, reporters, bloggers, etc. where you quote the work.
Reposted by A Foreigner in Brussels
