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Julien De Wit wrote that a colleague had posted his testimony on LinkedIn and that he found it worth sharing. The self-employed individual mentioned that he had received chemotherapy with Taxotere and Cyclophosphamide three years earlier, followed by radiotherapy. A month after his last radiation treatment, he had returned to work, although his supervising doctor thought it was too soon according to him. He had quickly reduced his replacement income of about 40 euros per day. The colleague wrote that he worked as a self-employed individual without staff through a company and had no fixed salary, paid sick leave, or vacation pay. If he was sick or took a holiday, he earned nothing. With a full schedule ahead, he was afraid of getting sick this month, he wrote. He opposed what he considered to be negative perceptions of self-employed individuals with a management company and called for respect for the risks they themselves bore. https://t.co/JNrZ60Kq3n #zelfstandigen #ondernemen #respect (translated)

A new election would entail great risks for the Social Democrats, who could risk going down in history as the only S leader who failed to form a government after an electoral victory, thereby further weakening the party's position. #Val2026 #Socialdemokraterna #Extraval (translated)

Marcel Crok suspected that Tijs was referring to him with the term 'climate deniers' because he claimed to be about the only dissenting voice during an external expert day in March 2025. He called the term derogatory and pointed out that CDA leader Henri Bontenbal had also used it regularly, according to him. Crok invited Tijs to a lecture by Clintel given by Roger Pielke Jr. the following Sunday in Driebergen. He referred to an article by Pielke about a campaign against climate scientists with dissenting views. According to Crok, Australian activists, including a cartoonist, with the support of influential American climate scientists, created blacklists. Among those listed were Pielke, his father, and Judith Curry, according to him. Crok wrote that their academic careers were thereby hindered and called the issue concerning for Members of Parliament. Regarding his own participation in the Citizen's Assembly, Crok stated that the selection of citizens went well and that his discussions with KNMI director Maarten van Aalst were respectful. However, in hindsight, he claimed that the organization published an incorrect fact-check. He said he should have filed a forty-page complaint before he received any response. Crok argued that the debate about climate, just like the debate about corona which Tijs had previously struggled with as a journalist, was, in his view, being stifled. He spoke of a suffocating atmosphere in the academic world and wrote that no journalist had signed up to attend Pielke's lecture. #klimaat #wetenschap #discussie (translated)

Sander Sassen addressed Henri Bontenbal and wrote that he had been little visible for months, despite an earlier column by Sassen about his absence. According to Sassen, Bontenbal had published a long thread on October 7, in which he labeled Hamas a terrorist organization and reflected on the victims and the Jewish community. Sassen felt that Bontenbal had subsequently blurred the responsibility for the violence by talking about a chain of violence, the Israeli response, and civilian casualties. He also believed that Bontenbal had pointed to Benjamin Netanyahu's settlement policy as an obstacle to a two-state solution. Sassen argued that this approach equated Hamas's attack and kidnappings with Israel's response, thereby fueling antisemitism. Sassen also criticized Bontenbal's reference to an article in Trouw about Maoz Inon, who lost his parents to Hamas, and Aziz Abu Sarah, whose brother died in an Israeli prison. Sassen described their pursuit of reconciliation as hopeful but felt that Bontenbal presented this initiative as a serious way forward without giving sufficient attention to Hamas's persistence and objectives, according to him. He also stated that Hamas deliberately saddled Palestinian children with hatred for Jews. Sassen wrote that, in his opinion, Bontenbal offered false hope and insufficiently placed responsibility for Hamas's violence on the perpetrators. He claimed that Hamas and its supporters aimed for the destruction of Israel and stated that disarmament by Palestinians, in his view, would bring peace, while Israel's disarmament would lead to a new attack like the one on October 7. #Israël #Hamas #Antisemitisme (translated)

Ida Gabrielsson wrote that she had difficulty understanding why the Social Democrats did not listen to the Left Party, both with regard to common electoral promises and to the interests of the Social Democrats and voters. She stated that the Left Party had said since the time after the January Agreement that the party would demand influence in a government if its mandate was needed. Since the mandates were now required for the Social Democrats to form a government, Gabrielsson argued that the Left Party should be included. For Magdalena Andersson to be elected, the Social Democrats, according to her, needed to accept this and begin working towards a four-party government. She referred to the fact that the Social Democrats had 28 percent, not 45, and wrote that the party therefore needed to share and cooperate in a coalition government. #politiksverige #koalitionsregering #valse2022 (translated)

A man has been sentenced in absentia by the court in Rotterdam to fourteen months in prison for years of stalking and publicly defaming his ex-wife, during which he negatively affected her personal life and filed false reports. #stalking #rechtspraak #persoonlijkelevenssfeer (translated)

A high leader of the Sudanese paramilitaries, Algoney Dagalo, participated in a conference in The Hague at the end of 2024 under the false name 'Ahmed Musa', which led to great unrest within the Sudanese community in the Netherlands after it turned out that he was on the U.S. sanctions list. #Sudan #RSF #oorlogsmisdaden (translated)

Eppo Tjuchem wrote that an attempt to get a close look at the infamous NS toilet was stranded because François Meyer had once again positioned himself as a human wall, just like on May 19. He also wrote that the Mina’s in the background had again struck a false note. https://t.co/uKq4PmSeMm #NS #toilet #humor (translated)

Leopold stated that 609,190 eligible voters lived in a voting district where the Electoral Authority recorded a ballot disturbance on election day. He wrote that the blocks were separated by 49,484 votes, but that there was no record of how many votes were actually affected. https://t.co/C0QALDrPVc #Val2023 #Rösträtt #Demokrati (translated)

STORY to START THE DAY She filed a complaint against 'tScheldt. 'She' is Mrs. articulate and pretentious, Sihame El Kaouakibi. SET, the so-called owner of Tscheldt, was arrested due to the articles about Sihame El Kaouakibi on 'tScheldt. The Heavy Banditry unit started an investigation into 'tScheldt following El Kaouakibi's complaint. It cost 'tScheldt a fortune to fend off years of complaints and various lawsuits from El Kaouakibi against 'tScheldt. But it was worth it. After many years, 'tScheldt won all the cases initiated by Sihame El Kaouakibi. A bit strange, though, that all the good newspapers published nothing about these actions of El Kaouakibi. Probably because they are jealous that that stupid 'tScheldt found the fake invoices that the couple Sihame and her friend had drawn up to have their bedroom in Antwerp redecorated at the expense of a Brussels non-profit subsidized by Jan Jambon. Those invoices were leaked by Bart De Wever to Faroek Özgünes, who proudly told in the VTM news that he had found the documents after 'long' research. Özgünes revealed himself to be a petty, small, dishonest little journalist. In the case of Sihame El Kaouakibi, many politicians have dirt on their hands. Her trial starts today. Let's see how the totally untrustworthy judges of the Antwerp Court of First Instance will play along with El Kaouakibi's game. Because do you know what? El Kaouakibi is going for acquittal due to Trial by Media. Ten to one she will misuse the satirical articles in 'tScheldt that day after day unraveled and exposed her fraud to argue that she can no longer get a fair trial due to what has been written about her. #SihameElKaouakibi #tScheldt #Persvrijheid (translated)

Today's (so far) most important article is written by Sven Otto Littorin. He argues that Sweden has been a highly trusting society and that the electoral system is built for that. I, who can be a bit less diplomatic at times in public discourse, would say that our society and our democracy are in decline. Luckily, the decline is happening from a relatively high altitude. From the article: "The election administration has reported over 4,000 incidents to the Electoral Authority this year, compared to 489 in 2022. Part of the increase is due to the fact that reporting is now mandatory, but behind the numbers, there is a pattern that cannot be dismissed: Up until 4 PM on election day, over 300 incidents in the category of unlawful influence had been reported, of which around 90 involved group voting. The police have received 58 reports of improper conduct during voting. The National Anti-Corruption Unit is investigating suspected electoral fraud in Dalarna with pre-marked ballots, driven voters, and possible payments. In Stockholm, at least four vote collectors with ties to gang crime have received ballots, and no law prevents this. In four municipalities, nearly 600 votes have been lost or rejected. The Election Review Board has received nearly 12,000 appeals. The previous record from 2018 was 723." Regardless of everything else one might say about this, I agree with the author of the article on the need for "a parliamentary electoral integrity commission to be appointed immediately, with the task of presenting legislative proposals in time for the 2030 election." You can read about a number of proposals in the article. I don't know myself if I would support all of them, but it is a starting point. Personally, I can also add that it is a major problem that the left is currently trying to meet all discussions about shortcomings in the election with a dismissive attitude and attempts to discredit those who raise criticism or constructive proposals. The way in which debaters and the media have treated Peter Wennblad after his very concerning article about irregularities in Järva is in itself a sign of weaknesses in democracy. It tends to become a form of circular reasoning. If someone writes and talks about what sources report from Järva, Borlänge, or Rosengård, the criticism and reporting are labeled as a threat to democracy because questioning whether the election was conducted well is itself seen as a threat to democracy, which has the decidedly undemocratic consequence that the election and democracy cannot be discussed without democracy being threatened. Somehow, we must get over this. And move forward. Because I believe it is correct that our electoral system is not made for the society that Sweden has become. https://t.co/q9aqAMPRgE #Demokrati #Valfusk #Sverige (translated)