nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte
@nwhyte.bsky.social
3.7K followers 1.6K following 3.2K posts
He/him. International affairs strategist & expert, science fiction fan, psephologist; posts personal. Will block rude people and bigots. http://fromtheheartofeurope.eu
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · Nov 17
Hi. I’m a science fiction fan, a Brussels public affairs consultant, & political commentator in Norn Iron. You are welcome to follow me but I usually won’t add you back unless I know you personally. Feel free to DM if you suspect I have forgotten who you are!

Blogging at fromtheheartofeurope.eu
From the Heart of Europe
Books, politics, languages and life
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3h
Het Zoet Water door de eeuwen heen, by Jean Binon and Paul Coeckelbergh
A short punchy book with lots of photographs.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4h
Wednesday reading
Last books finished
The Twist
The Partition
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 15h
Hans Gutbrod’s take on the latest happenings in Georgia:

open.substack.com/pub/hansgutb...
October Overview on State of Play in Georgia
Where are we now? Some provisional thoughts.
open.substack.com
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 1d
The Last Unicorn, and Two Hearts, by Peter S. Beagle
I must be getting bitter as I get older.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 1d
Excited to find someone stating that Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was recorded 26 April, 1967, the day I was born.

However it was actually first played on a London pirate radio station on 17 April, so must have been recorded earlier.

Still - enjoy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3i...
𝕬 𝖂𝖍𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝕺𝖋 𝕻𝖆𝖑𝖊 - 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖈𝖔𝖑 𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖚𝖒
YouTube video by Meowbay
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by Nicholas Whyte
pigasuspress.bsky.social
Tony Lee @pigasuspress.bsky.social · 1d
Social-media has become a shitstorm, doing for the Web what climate-change has done for the planet.
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 1d
Cory Doctorow on ‘enshittification’:

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...
www.theguardian.com
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Reposted by Nicholas Whyte
gossjam.bsky.social
James Goss @gossjam.bsky.social · 2d
Discussing with a friend which Who parts Patricia Routledge could have played.

We settled on Helen A or the Captain from Earthshock. But neither of those should be touched.

However. Imagine her Rani. "Einstein!"
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 2d
Previous blog about her: fromtheheartofeurope.eu/mother-ross-...
Mother Ross, aka Christian Davies: a genderqueer soldier under Marlborough
Third paragraph of The life and adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, commonly call’d Mother Ross; who, in several campaigns under King William and the late Duke of Marlborough, in the quality…
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 2d
Mother Ross: An Irish Amazon, by G.R. Lloyd
Not a terribly good novelisation of the story.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 2d
Russia's Growing Influence in Africa

youtu.be/u0yIWgS2uIk
MAPPING CONFLICT | Russia’s Growing Influence in Africa
YouTube video by International Crisis Group
youtu.be
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 2d
So it turns out that running a candidate with no political experience isn’t necessarily a winning strategy. Who knew?

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Jim Gavin withdraws from presidential election
Fianna Fáil candidate’s move leaves Heather Humphreys and Catherine Connolly in race for Áras
www.irishtimes.com
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
Official name Helsh(ea)ven, built in 2019 by artist Frits Jeuris from the wood of cherry trees that had been felled because of disease.

www.fritsjeuris.be/helsheaven
Helsh(ea)ven | fritsjeuris
www.fritsjeuris.be
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
The best known books set in each country: Ecuador
Galápagos, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
Behind Frenemy Lines, by Zen Cho
Two young British Asian lawyers gradually figure out their destiny. Some glorious moments.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
The floating chapel of Helshoven.
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Reposted by Nicholas Whyte
mommunism.bsky.social
Molly Shah @mommunism.bsky.social · 3d
Finnish is shockingly pretty to listen to- it’s really melodic.
nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
J.R.R. Tolkien on the Finnish language: "It was like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me." (from a 1955 letter to W.H. Auden)
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Reposted by Nicholas Whyte
bikewritedave.bsky.social
Dave in AK @bikewritedave.bsky.social · 3d
Best captcha ever.
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Reposted by Nicholas Whyte
nickjbrumfield.bsky.social
Nick Brumfield @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 3d
JRR Tolkien but happily
Philip Seymour Hoffman character Gus from Charlie Wilson's War yelling "I spent three years learning Finnish!"
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 3d
J.R.R. Tolkien on the Finnish language: "It was like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me." (from a 1955 letter to W.H. Auden)
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4d
Doctor Who: Lux, by James Goss
Another cracking novelisation from James Goss.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4d
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/lib...
Liberalism in the end times
In an age of populist revolution and radical upheaval, can the centre left do anything more than survive?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4d
I'm actually just at that point in Tolkien's letters - during those years he was continually troubled by dental and throat problems, which will certainly have affected his lecturing.
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4d
J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy L. Sayers
Sometimes there is not much there there; and I feel this is one of those cases.
fromtheheartofeurope.eu
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nwhyte.bsky.social
Nicholas Whyte @nwhyte.bsky.social · 4d
open.substack.com/pub/danielle...
Interpreting the Trump (Netanyahu) Gaza plan; reactions to it and what next
The juxtaposition between the evident and criminal flaws in the Trump Gaza plan (which, while incredibly thin on detail, makes grandiose claims, is cringeworthy in parts, and unlikely to be actualized...
open.substack.com
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