VelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪

ORCID 0000-0002-4836-6568. #tfr Internationalist. Open Access. EU Citizen, ex-UK resident. ⓐ = I claim no rights other than attribution, and even that I'm relaxed about. Ⓤ = Fan of Plan U – https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000273 Pronounce: with a V, not an F or a W. Pronouns: I don't care.

Public Key

npub1k3qra47tvnavrl34c9x4m7sll5ul0ezwpmd8ggm6jx6yq5wt8c3sy0rvnz

NIP-05 Address

villavelius_at_mastodon.online@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqstgsp76l9kf7kplc6uzn2alg0l6w0hu38qakn5ydafrdzq289nugcprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9aycml6

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

yabu.me

nostr.now

Author Public Key

npub1k3qra47tvnavrl34c9x4m7sll5ul0ezwpmd8ggm6jx6yq5wt8c3sy0rvnz

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-04-28 16:00:44 UTC

- reply

"Don't be evil" was Google's iconic, early motto aiming to prioritize user trust and ethical behavior over short-term profits. As the company grew into Alphabet Inc., this phrase was largely removed from the code of conduct by 2018, replaced by "Do the right thing," signaling a shift in corporate focus and culture.
Sergey Brin doesn't like either motto anymore, and has apparently moved into "greed is good" territory.

2026-03-12 11:27:58 UTC

- reply

Oh well, de Telegraaf. Not exactly known for its unwillingness to tell lies.

2026-02-16 05:57:31 UTC

- reply

The podcast in which the Dutch government official said this (in Dutch): https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/boekestijn-en-de-wijk/id1076289388?l=en-GB&i=1000749725889

2026-01-25 07:27:54 UTC

A road in the Netherlands was closed off for a while by the authorities to give a crane space to mourn its mate that died in a collision.
https://files.mastodon.online/media_attachments/files/115/954/550/517/548/285/original/42fb285626f6db38.png

2025-09-14 05:58:31 UTC

- reply

It's primarily a marketing device for a journal.

2025-08-07 14:50:56 UTC

- reply

I tell you, a bow tie suits an unruly mop of hair and unshaven chin like nothing else! 😉

2025-08-07 12:51:48 UTC

- reply

PS. Does anybody know why ostensible Europe hater Trump often prefers European neckties over American ones? (European ones have stripes from the left shoulder down; American ones from the right shoulder down –
"when British regimental styles were adapted in the U.S., brands like Brooks Brothers intentionally reversed the direction as a mark of distinction"). Is Trump a closet Europe admirer perhaps?

2025-08-07 12:32:52 UTC

- reply

I wear different clothes every day, depending on the weather, plans for the day, or just a whim. Collarless – and colourless – shirts, with or without (Indian) waistcoats and/or jackets, occasionally a bow tie (never a necktie), T-shirts, sweaters, colourful African shirts from Gabon that my son brings me, but under no circumstances polo-shirts. 😉

2025-08-07 11:11:51 UTC

- reply

Essential life skill? Not sure. Wasn't it Steve Jobs who wore the same clothes every day – or rather, identical ones, one would hope – and I doubt that that it was which killed him.

2025-08-07 10:53:33 UTC

- reply

Assertions without any evidence – or at least a question mark – seem to be the societal norm, though. Not just when it comes to politics, but also religions and assorted conspiracy theories etc. Difficult to wean society of this; self-evidently, I submit.

2025-08-07 10:15:07 UTC

- reply

I may have been privileged to go to schools without uniforms where there were neither pupils from rich families, nor from poor ones. But I'm talking about the 1950s and '60s, when 'label consciousness' wasn't an issue yet and there was also hardly any bullying as far as I remember. Anyway, our children liked their uniforms as they didn't have to think about what to wear.

2025-08-07 10:01:20 UTC

- reply

Maybe not. In schools without uniforms, higher financial inequality has caused problems in that some pupils wear expensive sneakers and clothes to school, whereas others can only afford the cheapest outfits. Uniforms could mitigate that effect somewhat, I would imagine.

2025-08-07 09:08:27 UTC

- reply

In countries with a higher Gini coefficient (more inequality), school uniforms may help attenuating social status differences of the pupils' families.

2025-08-06 10:38:39 UTC

- reply

Our children didn't mind having to wear a uniform, but I don't know what I would have thought. Fortunately, where I grew up, every day was a mufti day.

2025-07-20 09:01:42 UTC

- reply

The real Big Beautiful Bill Act

2025-02-28 07:33:37 UTC

- reply

They should perhaps consider a bigger role for citizens' councils formed by sortition and reduce the dangerous side-effects of elections. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30957274-against-elections

2025-01-24 08:14:39 UTC

- reply

Idiocy even trumps common sense.

2024-11-04 09:25:39 UTC

<< 'They expect Harris to be flawless while Trump can be lawless', verzuchtten de Democraten in reactie op het met twee maten meten van de media. Ze hebben gelijk: als Trump deze week wint, is dat met name te wijten aan ruggengraatloze media, die onder druk van de
extreemrechtse dominantie op sociale media overal in het Westen dezelfde fouten maken.>>
Als Trump wint, is dat met name te wijten aan ruggengraatloze media, die woorden als ‘fascist’ uit de weg gaan https://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-van-de-dag/als-trump-wint-is-dat-met-name-te-wijten-aan-ruggengraatloze-media-die-woorden-als-fascist-uit-de-weg-gaan~ba040f6f/

2024-11-04 09:04:30 UTC

- reply

Are you sure about the "changed little qualitatively about society"? Couldn't it be argued that the societal discourse deteriorated, coarsened, as a result of developments in information technology?

2024-10-29 06:24:14 UTC

- reply

Rechtsdraaiende democratieën zijn de ultieme hypocratieën.

2024-10-03 08:49:01 UTC

- reply

They agreed to freedom of movement for people and goods.

2024-09-18 10:37:17 UTC

Denken Wilders en zijn fanclub nou echt dat met het buiten houden van dat kleine percentage van immigranten dat uit levensbehoud hun geboorteland is ontvlucht de echte problemen – stikstofcrisis, mestcrisis, natuurverwoesting, wooncrisis, arbeidsmarkt tekorten en arbeidsmigratie, zorgcrisis, onderwijscrisis – zijn opgelost?
Wat een waandenkbeeld!