This sounds great, but to put it in context:

In 2022 the government decided to temporarily lower the tax on petrol with 17 cents (and also reductions for diesel and lpg) , as prices were skyrocketing. It was initially for 1 year. This was then lengthened a number of times. In the beginning of the year, the right-wing government decided to cut back public transport spending. So with this decision, we will again lengthen the tax cuts for petrol for 2026 and 2027, but with about 1/3 less than the previous years. That part will go to public transport.

The price increases seem to have had some impact. But it is very minimal, as the article mentions (a 6% drop from 2009 to 2024)…

Weird, the first picture isn’t in Amsterdam, but in The Hague (Den Haag Hollands Spoor).

You could argue the same about emission zones which are common across Europe (mainly in inner cities). Just because your vehicle is allowed on the road, it doesn’t you can drive it anywhere.

Yeah, and of course the superficial stuff is easy to grasp, like one character is lazy, or the other more of a dreamer who achieves nothing. But you feel like there are things going over your head.

TIL my home is a thriving ecosystem

At the moment I’m reading Dead Souls by Gogol. I’ve been at it for a while. It’s a bit heavy for a summer read, but I’m enjoying it somewhat. It’s fun to see all the colorful characters that come across, but I have the idea a lot is going over my head as I’m not that familiar with the Russia of that time. It’s sad quite a bit is missing of the second part.

Only about 70 pages left. The next book will definitely be something lighter…

Do they even promise it will benefit local populations? The issue is that even if they are good projects from a viewpoint of carbon (which the companies argue), the global north is still ofsetting their emissions in the global south. Large swathes of land are reserved by these companies, with little or no benefit to the local population, only so they can keep their business models afloat in the western world. It’s just yet another form of neocolonialism.

Eh, anything that melts I’d suppose. Most of the times I used gouda, because that’s what was in the fridge

They are pretty versatile, especially if they are homemade. But my go-to’s are a smokey bbq sauce or sriracha mayo

I’d argue that’s the same for black bean burgers. They are not like faux meat burgers, but a thing on their own.

Maybe we can also add the Macedonian Empire while we are at it

The Ottoman Empire never ruled in east Arabia (apart from Muscat) or in the central areas, did they?

Then you’d have like double the colors on the map.

To everyone enjoying their Gouda abroad, the milk industry has a huge role in the land subsidence and peat oxidation in the western and northern Netherlands.

It isn’t specifically about flooding. Flooding is a fairly manageable risk in the western Netherlands. As strange as it may sound for an area that is below sea level. The true problem for Gouda is its subsoil. The city is built on a thick peat layer, which is subsiding. Gouda is by far the most vulnerable historic city in that regard.

As you can see on the photo in the article, the water level in some canals is like 10 or 20 cm below the street level. Water so shallow will start creeping upward in your walls. The streets and to a lesser extent buildings are slowly subsiding. So why not just lower the water level? Well, this accelerates the oxidation and compression of peat, causing faster subsiding. You could heighten the street, but the extra weight will cause more subsidence. This is the conundrum Gouda is in.

I do it with ublock origin. It prevents the paywall from loading.

Just turn off javascript for the domain.

Nah, went off on the “bigger and uglier”.

And surely the Chinese did it fine, but Yugoslav Brutalism is just something else ;)