I wrote a piece on the Starmer Administration walking away from the EU’s defence funding programme. Here are the links, I used and didn’t. …
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Where are the chips made?
There’s probably a joke about British and American use of the word chips here, but in this article we are talking about silicon chips. Here is some stats I took 1½ years ago on which countries make them, taken from Wikipedia.
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Deutsche Bahn
I may have missed an opportunity in September, here is the DB railway map, I should have travelled from Stralsund to Lubeck via Rostock …
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The Commission Work Plan 26
Oops, missed this, … published on the 21st October, this article was made on 5th November and is unfinished. A summary of the defence & security programmes and the social cohesion programmes would be useful.
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GB Energy
What is this? How will it help the cost-of-living crisis? …
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Helsinki
Not been at the top of my list, but since, I have limited Scandinavian plans for 2026, let’s have a think.
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The Democratic Odyssey 2024
In the EU Parliamentary year, 2024/25, there was an experimental citizen’s assembly incubated by the EUI. I attended their Florence assembly 22/2 & 23/2, and made some notes. These stayed in my notebook for too long but I have decided to make this page, which collects some reviews and views and may even have some…
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Federated Social Media
Mike Masnik of Techdirt points me at Sarah Perez’s article on a social media world without Caesars. , reporting on the founding AT Protocol conference, which is definitely not a Bluesky conference.
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Notes on the economics of AI
I have been reading and thinking about the economics of AI. Here some articles that I have read or not.
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Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
After the performative racism of the other month, I report on the Labour Government’s current legislation. And in JUne, I amended it, to develop a policy proposal for Labour’s NPF and Union conferences.
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An EU Army?
Not yet, but the US administration’s behaviour over Ukraine is leading the rest of NATO to ask how real US defence guarantees are. The EU Commission has announced a funding route for arms and Germany is looking to exclude defence expenditure from their “debt ceiling rules”. My notes and links …
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The Data Bill
A bill to basically make the use of data easier. My notes and links; I was originally interested in the identity validation services it envisaged but the “copyright/mine for ever people” see an opportunity to make more money. NB Arguments between industrial music and big tech are pretty unattractive, and usually ignore the interests and…
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A DnD 5e Gish
I plan to build a D&D Gish, and want to document a good Eldritch Knight build. Here as ever are my notes and links. …
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On over consumption
At a conference I attended, Ann Pettifor argued that the world was undergoing a crisis of under consumption. It makes sense, so I had a look at what she says/said. Here some noted and links …
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Switches
Technology moves on … I need one or two more switches for the house.
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