iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

De huidige geopolitieke spanningen maken het voor Europa belangrijk om afhankelijkheden te verminderen. Maar hoe ontwikkelt de Europese positie in productieketens zich ten opzichte van China en de VS, en waar liggen kansen om strategische afhankelijkheden af te bouwen? esb.nu/europese-afh...

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Oliver Bullough @oliverbullough.bsky.social · 10h

Re the Sally Rooney news, I was looking up data on arrests under terrorism legislation the other day, and hadn't quite realised how utterly bonkers the effect of the Palestine Action prohibition had been. That big purple spike is basically all PA-related arrests.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Sigh. After 1990 the EU did not (NOT) pursue a hegemonic agenda. Not against Russia. Not against the US. Butter instead of guns. Putin has been extremely stupid.

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.

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andielp.bsky.social @andielp.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

👇🏼

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Isa Yusibov @isayusibov.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I wrote this in 2016. Even back then, it was painfully obvious how Trump's hostility towards the transatlantic alliance served the Kremlin's strategic interests. A decade later some people still refuse to see what has been unfolding in plain sight: Trump being Putin's asset.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Remember Trump´s ´will be wild´ tweet, the prelude to Washington, January 6, 2020? He was invoking mob violence to stay in power. His ´fight back´ tweet against the Somali community has the same goal. When it comes to pogroms, history repeats. surveys.ecit.fsu.edu/the-definiti...

surveys.ecit.fsu.edu

The Definition of Pogroms: Understanding State-Sponsored Violence and Its Historical Impact - Florida State University

The Definition of Pogroms: Understanding State-Sponsored Violence and Its Historical ImpactThe phenomenon of pogroms represents one of the most brut

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I tweet too much about the us, but...

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ik geloof niet dat je helemaal hebt bijgehouden wat, in de VS, Christian Nationalism is. Opheffing van de scheiding van kerk en staat en, in ieder geval in de VS, sterk racistische en patriarchale ondertonen. Die dus vanuit de staat worden gepromoot. Soort Opus Dei (maar racistischer, denk KKK!)

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Limited posting for a while as I have to finish a manuscript

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Of course, some companies and people get paid these high prices. Exxon, Saudi Arabia, the Russian multi ethnic federation - you name it. Venezuela does not seem to profit, even when people around Trump are fleecing this oil-rich country.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Weber is right High energy prices caused by a schock are deflationary (households as well as non-energy companies have to pay more for energy and have, hence less income/money/credit to spend on other items). High interest rates aggravate this, investments in savings/clean energy alleviate it.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

5/5 (yes, Trump and Farage and Wilders and Weidel and others despise immigration - despite their immigrant wives. But they are stuck in a world which ceased to exist in 1965, when global birth rates all around the world started to plummet, a process that still continues)

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

4/.. The global scramble for labour has started. One answer to the shortage problem is immigration; another is indentured labour in one kind or another (the draft!). Despite this, geopolitical power will shift to Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, etc. And Europe, due to immigration.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

3/.. Total labour force is a thing, again. But demographic decline in Russia and China is palpable. This is not as such a bad thing. But it does erode geopolitical power. Also, despite labour shortages, net migration from Russia became negative, aggravating the problem.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

2/... Participation and unemployment rates are supposed to tell us something about well-being of people, households and even nations large and small (and they do). The total labour force is just boring geopolitical stuff. Enters: 2022. Demographic decline and new wars, requiring millions.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Graph of 02 10 2026 1/.. Meta: nowadays it´s easier to find statistics on participation rates etc. (derived statistics!) than statistics on the total labour force(measured data) (I know, the border between derived and measured is not clear cut). Why?

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Claudia Sahm @claudia-sahm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Growth in FRED users well above 20% *per year* for 30 years. That's impressive!

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

2/2 Generally, many Middle European countries do well (lower than 5% U): Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia But Bosnia-Herzegovina and North-Macedonia still have 10%+ unemployment.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Graph of 01 10 2026 1/.. New EU unemployment data, August 2026. It´s moving sideways. Remarkable: data for males, Greece (mind: high out-migration). That´s lower than in the Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the austerity darlings which were seen as examples after 2009.

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Mathijs Bouman @mathijsbouman.nl · 30/09/2026

fd.nl/opinie/16137...

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

4/4 The Ultra-Orthodox as a group are rapidly becoming more important in Israel because of their sustained high fertility rate. Do the math for the next 25 years (oh, some people already did: en.idi.org.il/articles/63385) The US and Europe are increasingly backing ´Haredim´ Israel.

en.idi.org.il

Haredim in Israel 2050: Demographic Projections and Economic and Security Scenarios

The following is an executive summary and key findings from a full study, which can be found in Hebrew here.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

3/.. Despite this perspective: c) The ultra-Orthodox stand out. It´s hard to compare. In modern times, Chad has, as a country and in a global perspective, the highest fertility rate of the world (5,84 kids per woman). Ultra-Orthodox women have one child more. Demographically, that´s a lot.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

2/.. Differences between not-so-religious and not-religious are limited. The differences between traditional Jewish and very religious Muslims are also limited. A little perspective: b) The total average fertility rate of the 4 grandparent couples of my kids was 7,5. Higher than any of these ..

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Graph 0f 30 09 2026 1/.. Statisticians like to put people in boxes. About this (total fertility rate: the average number of children a woman is expected to have): a) There are 4 boxes too many in this graph because

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Good news. My experimental PayPal account is closed down. PayPal is a bad and way to expensive solution to the terrible US payment system; if you´re living outside of the US, do not use it.

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Nina Zeelen @ninazeelen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

VVD Frame "Het hardnekkige frame dat NL een probleem heeft met ‘extreem-links’ wordt door VVD herhaalt. Extreem-links wordt gezien als een idee dat de democratie wil vervangen, geweld goedpraat of revoluties nastreeft, met totale overheidscontrole of geweldsopstanden. In TK vind je daar niets van."

bnnvara.nl

Niet links, maar rechts is extreem in het parlement - Joop - BNNVARA

Wetenschap laat zich niet beïnvloeden door politieke reclame.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

3) his year in a Kibbutz was very important to him; Israeli websites sometimes describe him as Jewish 4) can´t find this back, but I once saw, on the internet, that quite some years back he visited Ben Gvir at his home.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Some remarks: 1) According to some Dutch people Indonesia was a Dutch colony until 1949 (as stated in the article). Indonesians have a different view and trace independence to August 17, 1945. 2) Like many, many other extreme right male politicians he has a ´foreign´ wife Also

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

d) production costs of camel milk seem to be high, but it seems to be a lot healthier than cow's milk (billions of people are allergic to cow's milk) Here´s ´tridge´ about the global camel milk supply chain (no irony, it´s a thing; camel milk is a growth market) www.tridge.com/market-overv...

tridge.com

Camel Milk Suppliers, Export Data & Price Trends | Global Market Overview 2026 | Tridge

Camel Milk global market overview covering 8 countries. Analyze 1 premium suppliers, 35 exporters, 50 importers with company-profile and analytics context in Supply Chain Intelligence. Last updated: 2...

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

2/.. a) There are more recent FAO data (the graph above) b) Camel milk is a growing market b) Do economics students nowadays learn how to parse information from such sites? Important! c) The FAO is a UN organisation. It is a question of time before the extreme right tries to demolish it Also...

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Graph of 29 09 2026 1/.. A Research Gate bot suggested this to me (attachment). Interesting, a non-Indo-European perspective, etc. But it only included time-series data up to 2019, from the ´tridge´ website. Can we do better? ´Tridge´ obtains its production data from the FAO website. About this:

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If you missed it... The ideas of the extreme right about civil war in European countries and the USA are serious. They want and promote this.

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Reposted by Merijn Antifa Knibbe

Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It looks like the Russians have decided to prod the Poles into massively improving their antidrone defenses

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

That´s 1% of the Russian population. 2% of the male population. 4% of the male population of the right age. 8% of the male population physically/economically able to be expendable. And about as many as already have died/are severely mentally or physically injured in the Ukraine war.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

4/4 Bottom line: people afraid of migrants or hating migrants should do everything to improve the situation in the home countries. Violence and hate won't work.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

3/.. Acc. to the article, Poland has at this moment 2,6 million foreign workers. Many From Ukraine but also from Colombia etc. But already before the Russian, imperialist, invasion of Ukraine there were hundreds of thousands Ukrainians working in Poland. Migration has many sides.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

2/.. About this: it helped me a lot when I understood that net migration is the results of two partly independent flows: in-migration and out-migration. Out-migration increased, also for the simple reason that the number of Poles in the Netherlands increased!

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Graph of 28 09 2026 1/.. For the first time in decades, more Polish people are returning to Poland from the Netherlands than vice versa (De Volkskrant 28 09 2026). Main reason(s): favorable econ development in Poland (and cheaper houses). According to the article: Sweden, Germany: same development.

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Graphs of 27 09 2026 1/1 Where do the EU imports of oil, coal, liquefied gas, and gaseous gas come from? Increasingly, from the USA, which, after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, rapidly replaced Russia. High energy prices are good for the USA. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/sta...

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Merijn Antifa Knibbe @merijnknibbe.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There is one song - and one song only - which always gives me goose bumps. And brings tears into my eyes. Everytime I hear it. No matter how its played.

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