Tobias Merkendorf
@tmkdf.bsky.social
Parenting and Pedaling
Rugby and IP laws
Washing and Warmachines
Cold war temperate climate kid
Giggling Cardbox
Master of pillow forts
Calculated mediocrity
Somewhere on the fringes of the lowlands and industrial wastes of the Ruhr.
Rugby and IP laws
Washing and Warmachines
Cold war temperate climate kid
Giggling Cardbox
Master of pillow forts
Calculated mediocrity
Somewhere on the fringes of the lowlands and industrial wastes of the Ruhr.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
A very pessimistic outlook for Russia's economy. The only way to avert disaster is to end the war, but Putin believes that Ukraine is losing faster than Russia, so he maintains the course toward the abyss.
Gifted "What Mr Putin sees is this: Europe struggling with its own structural crisis, politically fragmented and unable to agree on strategic issues—including Russia; Ukraine exhausted and dependent on Western support that wavers with each election cycle" www.economist.com/by-invitatio...
Russia’s economy has entered the death zone
Alexandra Prokopenko wonders how much longer it can go on metabolising its own muscle tissue
www.economist.com
February 16, 2026 at 8:38 PM
A very pessimistic outlook for Russia's economy. The only way to avert disaster is to end the war, but Putin believes that Ukraine is losing faster than Russia, so he maintains the course toward the abyss.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Es ist gut, dass ihr die Verwandtenversorgung der AfD thematisiert. Aber ihr überseht: Sie wird aus tribalistischen Motiven gewählt. Viele identifizieren sich stark mit der Gruppe, dass Vorwürfe abprallen. Wer sie stoppen will, braucht ein Verbot und Konsequenzen im Staatsdienst.
February 16, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Es ist gut, dass ihr die Verwandtenversorgung der AfD thematisiert. Aber ihr überseht: Sie wird aus tribalistischen Motiven gewählt. Viele identifizieren sich stark mit der Gruppe, dass Vorwürfe abprallen. Wer sie stoppen will, braucht ein Verbot und Konsequenzen im Staatsdienst.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It’s easy to think writing is mainly the transcription of ideas you already have—that is, until you try to write something worthwhile, and you find what you thought were saying transform into something far more interesting in the process. This skips that last step, and that is *not* an improvement.
“We plan to hire an AI rewrite specialist to ingest the reporting by Hannah and others and use AI to convert it into stories.”
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it will use AI to ‘write’ its articles.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/10...
February 16, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Writing is thinking.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
It's not some marginal boring task you can skip. It's the heart of it.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
sparta was smaller, shorter-lived, and had a weaker literary output than the kingdom of gwynedd
If it was based in any country other than Greece the Spartan polity would be referred to as a "chiefdom" or some other derogatory term for a moribund half-state
February 16, 2026 at 3:20 PM
sparta was smaller, shorter-lived, and had a weaker literary output than the kingdom of gwynedd
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Dude is quickly climbing the ranks of Most Dangerous Man Alive
February 16, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Dude is quickly climbing the ranks of Most Dangerous Man Alive
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
"obviously, doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl."
social media verbot für alle unter 14? warum ich das für den ganz falschen weg halte und welcher tatsächlich sinnvolle SPD-vorschlag gerade in den hintergrund gerät:
social media verbot für alle unter 14? warum ich das für den ganz falschen weg halte und welcher tatsächlich sinnvolle SPD-vorschlag gerade in den hintergrund gerät:
(S+) Meinung: Social-Media-Verbot für unter 14-Jährige? Ruhe! Hier unterhalten sich die Großen - Kommentar
SPD und CDU wollen Kinder von den sozialen Medien ausschließen. Man fragt sich, ob die Politiker selbst je jung gewesen sind. Es gibt einen besseren Vorschlag, um den digitalen Raum sicherer zu machen...
www.spiegel.de
February 16, 2026 at 2:37 PM
"obviously, doctor, you've never been a 13-year-old girl."
social media verbot für alle unter 14? warum ich das für den ganz falschen weg halte und welcher tatsächlich sinnvolle SPD-vorschlag gerade in den hintergrund gerät:
social media verbot für alle unter 14? warum ich das für den ganz falschen weg halte und welcher tatsächlich sinnvolle SPD-vorschlag gerade in den hintergrund gerät:
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
MAGA loves Orban, Orban clearly hates the EU. So here's a proposal: Hungary leaves the European Union, we get on with our life and if Orban needs cash, Rubio can write the check. Deal?
February 16, 2026 at 1:00 PM
MAGA loves Orban, Orban clearly hates the EU. So here's a proposal: Hungary leaves the European Union, we get on with our life and if Orban needs cash, Rubio can write the check. Deal?
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
February 16, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
I dont know the future, but right now US productivity has v little to do with AI. If you look at the trend acceleration, it predates LLMs
February 16, 2026 at 8:55 AM
I dont know the future, but right now US productivity has v little to do with AI. If you look at the trend acceleration, it predates LLMs
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
How anyone is remotely surprised by this baffles me
February 16, 2026 at 11:59 AM
How anyone is remotely surprised by this baffles me
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
So hetzt die AfD gegen die Bundeswehr
February 16, 2026 at 12:02 PM
So hetzt die AfD gegen die Bundeswehr
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Egal ob Außen-, Gesundheits- oder Energiepolitik: Realität, Fakten und Vernunft dürfen nicht am Altar populistischer Parteiwettbewerbspolitik geopfert werden.
February 16, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Egal ob Außen-, Gesundheits- oder Energiepolitik: Realität, Fakten und Vernunft dürfen nicht am Altar populistischer Parteiwettbewerbspolitik geopfert werden.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Agree with almost all the takes on MSC. It felt like Davos was the shock, MSC was the hangover. Administration sought to tone down European outrage. It didn't work. And yet...
Europe increasingly has a NATO problem. There is no effort to prepare for war without the US. But...1/
Europe increasingly has a NATO problem. There is no effort to prepare for war without the US. But...1/
February 15, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Agree with almost all the takes on MSC. It felt like Davos was the shock, MSC was the hangover. Administration sought to tone down European outrage. It didn't work. And yet...
Europe increasingly has a NATO problem. There is no effort to prepare for war without the US. But...1/
Europe increasingly has a NATO problem. There is no effort to prepare for war without the US. But...1/
Meeting Newsom is probably the smartest thing Merz did this year so far.
You should not place all the eggs in one basket…
You should not place all the eggs in one basket…
Repeated instances of interference by Republicans in German politics was ok, until German Chancellor Merz met Governor Newsom in Munich. The Trump administration expresses its irritation regarding this meeting and describes it as „blunder“.
No, this is politics.
No, this is politics.
February 16, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Meeting Newsom is probably the smartest thing Merz did this year so far.
You should not place all the eggs in one basket…
You should not place all the eggs in one basket…
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
February 16, 2026 at 7:37 AM
mom they’re roasting the US economy on mastodon again
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Nuhr ist übrigens Geschichtslehrer, GESCHICHTSLEHRER!
February 15, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Nuhr ist übrigens Geschichtslehrer, GESCHICHTSLEHRER!
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
The one thing that is growing extremely fast is the wealth of the top billionaires:
The top 0.00001% used to own the equivalent of 3% of national income in wealth in 2010
Now they own the equivalent of 12% of national income!
The top 0.00001% used to own the equivalent of 3% of national income in wealth in 2010
Now they own the equivalent of 12% of national income!
January 20, 2026 at 8:59 PM
The one thing that is growing extremely fast is the wealth of the top billionaires:
The top 0.00001% used to own the equivalent of 3% of national income in wealth in 2010
Now they own the equivalent of 12% of national income!
The top 0.00001% used to own the equivalent of 3% of national income in wealth in 2010
Now they own the equivalent of 12% of national income!
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
However, as we see every day, GDP is at best a measure of *potential* or capability to fight an industrial war.
It is meaningless without the *will* to fight.
Russia should have lost the war decisively by now.
It is meaningless without the *will* to fight.
Russia should have lost the war decisively by now.
February 15, 2026 at 6:38 PM
However, as we see every day, GDP is at best a measure of *potential* or capability to fight an industrial war.
It is meaningless without the *will* to fight.
Russia should have lost the war decisively by now.
It is meaningless without the *will* to fight.
Russia should have lost the war decisively by now.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Saw the term “malignant pacifism” for the first time, and oh my god is that a great descriptor for the Democratic Party.
February 15, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Saw the term “malignant pacifism” for the first time, and oh my god is that a great descriptor for the Democratic Party.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
"Google has criticized the European Union’s intentions to achieve digital sovereignty through open-source software."
Umm...ok...I think I can see why they did that, but lets read further...
"The company [Google] warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech […]
Umm...ok...I think I can see why they did that, but lets read further...
"The company [Google] warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech […]
Original post on sharkey.world
sharkey.world
February 15, 2026 at 12:28 PM
"Google has criticized the European Union’s intentions to achieve digital sovereignty through open-source software."
Umm...ok...I think I can see why they did that, but lets read further...
"The company [Google] warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech […]
Umm...ok...I think I can see why they did that, but lets read further...
"The company [Google] warned that Brussels’ policies aimed at reducing dependence on American tech […]
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Chilling
Emails Show Epstein Scheming That Environmental Destruction Could Solve “Overpopulation” | Article by Joe Wilkins (@joeonhere.bsky.social) for @futurism.com: futurism.com/science-ener...
Emails Show Epstein Scheming That Environmental Destruction Could Solve "Overpopulation"
Recently spotted emails from 2016 show Jeffrey Epstein suggesting that climate change could be the answer to "overpopulation."
futurism.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Chilling
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Mark Twain used to say, joking-not-joking, that one of the causes of the American Civil War was Sir Walter Scott.
it has more in common, in fact, with with the antebellum slaveholder preoccupation with (its vision of) medieval europe, a romantic notion of Anglo supremacy that you can see articulated, in similar form, during the early days of american imperialism at the turn of the 20th century.
February 15, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Mark Twain used to say, joking-not-joking, that one of the causes of the American Civil War was Sir Walter Scott.
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
are an ideological Other to America First and its representatives, from President Trump on down to Vance, Hegseth, Rubio, etc. This is no longer a transatlantic partnership of values, at best it’s a geo-strategic marriage of convenience overlayinga growing socio-cultural divide. /5
February 15, 2026 at 1:39 PM
are an ideological Other to America First and its representatives, from President Trump on down to Vance, Hegseth, Rubio, etc. This is no longer a transatlantic partnership of values, at best it’s a geo-strategic marriage of convenience overlayinga growing socio-cultural divide. /5
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Der Spiegel hat auf einen besonders gruseligen Moment der #MSC26 aufmerksam gemacht:
Als Wadephul, Pistorius und Söder nach #Rubio s sehr konkret antieuropäischer Rede um angeblichen Klimakult und Massenmigration zu Standing Ovations aufspringen.
Unnötig. Gefährlich. Dumm.
Als Wadephul, Pistorius und Söder nach #Rubio s sehr konkret antieuropäischer Rede um angeblichen Klimakult und Massenmigration zu Standing Ovations aufspringen.
Unnötig. Gefährlich. Dumm.
February 15, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Tobias Merkendorf
Gerichtsreporterin von NDR HH bezeichnet Menschen mit psychischen Erkrankungen,durch die sie eine Gefahr für andere sein können, als "tickende Zeitbomben". Lieber NDR: Menschen sind keine "Zeitbomben", auch nicht die mit psychischen Erkrankungen, WAS STIMMT DENN MIT EUCH ALLEN NICHT HERRGOTTNOCHMAL?
February 15, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Gerichtsreporterin von NDR HH bezeichnet Menschen mit psychischen Erkrankungen,durch die sie eine Gefahr für andere sein können, als "tickende Zeitbomben". Lieber NDR: Menschen sind keine "Zeitbomben", auch nicht die mit psychischen Erkrankungen, WAS STIMMT DENN MIT EUCH ALLEN NICHT HERRGOTTNOCHMAL?