Derek Black
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djm-black.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy
Derek Black
@djm-black.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy
European: Germano-Polish Scot. Christian. Bibliophile. Scientist. House-husband.

🌉 bridged from https://mastodon.scot/@djm_black on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/
Reposted by Derek Black
Today is the day: *Bulgaria is using the euro!* 🇪🇺 ❤️ 🇧🇬

Bulgarians can now benefit from *a more stable economy, stronger trade worldwide and not changing currency every time they travel* 🤝

To start using the euro, a country needs to have its *economy in check.* For […]

[Original post on mas.to]
January 1, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
I'd like to think 2026 is the year populism falls apart in both Britain and America.

Over here, there are early signs that the process of populist radicalisation (and ever greater stupidity) is becoming too much for some of them and lines are being drawn.
January 1, 2026 at 8:50 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Want a LOT more detail on all of this?

My latest discussion with Richard Bowker on Green Signals about all of this went live today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAwz3gViQJk

I will respond to all outstanding questions on Youtube now
December 30, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
There's a new way to browse and find walks to do for 2026! A *much* requested feature - you can now browse a map of Scotland will ALL our route lines shown at once, to help you find the one you want to do (and easily see how they connect and intersect).
www.walkhighlands.co.uk/maps/big-map...
December 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
RE: https://mastodon.social/@lashman/115803815128207539

This is potentially huge! I seldom use my phone for payments but this lays out the costs of the intermediation and the vulnerability to the whims of companies and, of course, a US government that acts arbitrarily for corrupt advantage.
mastodon.social
December 30, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
“Trump is unpopular in Europe, even among the supporters of right-wing populist parties he sees as allies…

In France and Germany, only about a third of people who said they had supported right-wing parties reported seeing Trump in a favorable light.”

www.politico.eu/article/poli...
December 29, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Everyone talks about crisis in Ukraine, the EU, Russia, China, Africa, the Middle East and the rest.

But at the heart of the destabilisation of the global order that links each of these challenges is a rapidly escalating America Crisis.
December 29, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
Ballot Box Scotland 2025 in review: council by-elections

"remember the most important aspect of STV – that the nice simple language used for FPTP of “gain/loss/hold” isn’t as applicable here. Whoever vacated one of three or four seats is not always the same as the overall winner at the last […]
Original post on glasgow.social
glasgow.social
December 27, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
The Swedish angel chimes which have been in our family for 60 years, this year with beeswax candles from the farm down the road.

#ItsClichedToBeCynicalAtChristmas.

Happy Xmas all.
December 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
Keir Starmer now faces a choice between vocally condemning American interference in UK and EU politics in ways that will inevitably draw Trumpist anger towards Labour or folding in the face of Trumpian pressure thus fuelling LibDem, Green, SNP and Plaid accusations that Starmer is a coward.
December 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
The thread about The Mound’s Electric Blanket; keeping buses (and rugby) running in the face of “winter’s fierce onslaught”

Once again somehow it is December in Edinburgh and temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing within the week. Relatively speaking our city isn't a particularly cold…
The thread about The Mound’s Electric Blanket; keeping buses (and rugby) running in the face of “winter’s fierce onslaught”
Once again somehow it is December in Edinburgh and temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing within the week. Relatively speaking our city isn't a particularly cold one and it is even less a snowy one, but when the temperatures do drop the steep gradients of its north-facing streets can prove treacherous. Seventy-odd years ago, the authorities faced a particular headache at The Mound, an accident black-spot where a series of tragedies had been narrowly avoided by good luck alone. Forced to act, they turned to the white heat of technology and installed the first road heating system in the UK; the fabled "electric blanket". In theory it would prove a triumphant success, but it cost three times more to run than the grit it was meant to replace and when the opportune political moment came along it was quietly abandoned - but never forgotten.
threadinburgh.scot
December 24, 2025 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
New post just out:

My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026.

(Free to read)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Audit - 2025
What did I get right and wrong?
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Russian general killed not by falling out of a window - strong circumstantial evidence that it was Ukraine: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Russian general killed by car bomb in Moscow, officials say
Fanil Sarvarov was the head of the armed forces' operational training department, Russia's Investigative Committee said.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Presumably Trump's next act of American global master strategy will be to appoint a horse as his chief envoy to Panama
December 22, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
"When we ask people whether #Brexit has been a success or a failure, 62% to 11% say failure. And that really rockets up - when you ask people who did vote Labour last year and people who are still intending to vote Labour - that figure goes north of 85%." ~AA @pimlicat.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Remember to stock up on food like a nuclear war is coming AKA the shops will shut for a day.
December 21, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
A good-ish weak for Europe, a great year for China and an outstanding year for the Trump family. Plus marketing God - lessons from the remarkable success of the Alpha course. My latest on the Year of the Dragon
open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p...
Year of the Dragon
Thoughts on a goodish week for Europe, a great year for China and an outstanding year for the Trump family. Plus marketing God - lessons from the success of the Alpha Course
open.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
China added 500+ TWh of electricity in the past 12 months. Coal fell ~66 TWh.

#Solar delivered ~75% of net growth in both China and the U.S. over the same period.

The difference isn’t direction — it’s speed. China is growing ~4× faster.

Now #BESS is scaling, turning capacity into firm power.
December 20, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Looks like flu is wave is likely to be "normal bad" shifted earlier and not bigger this year after all.

Latest hospital data came out this afternoon.
December 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
How have I only just discovered google maps for space? If you, like me, did not know about this little piece of internet treasure, you must check it out! You can fly over moons and planets - and it's all real data 🤗 🔭🧪
👉: www.google.co.uk/maps/space/
👇: Dwarf planet Pluto!
December 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Derek Black
The more I think about it, the more I reckon the 2003 Iraq War began the process that let Trump win. The blatant lies we were told by our governments, the disregard for public opinion and mockery of international law created a rupture that never healed. Trust, consent and cohesion were smashed.🧵 1/3
December 19, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
Denmark Begins its Exit from Microsoft — and This is Just the Beginning
https://itsfoss.com/news/denmark-road-traffic-authority-ditches-microsoft/
The move is part of a government-wide effort to reduce dependency on Microsoft software. The traffic department's move is just the beginning.
Denmark Begins its Exit from Microsoft — and This is Just the Beginning
The move is part of a government-wide effort to reduce dependency on Microsoft software. The traffic department's move is just the beginning.
itsfoss.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
"In Finland, tax records are considered public data, and every November, the tax authorities release a dataset to the media containing the incomes earned and taxes paid by Finland’s richest."

"At the top spot this year was Mikko ”Miki” Kuusi, founder of food delivery company Wolt and CEO of […]
Original post on mastodon.online
mastodon.online
December 16, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Reposted by Derek Black
New post just out:

"The Overshoot"

Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration.

What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election?

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Overshoot
What happens to politics, and the country, as net migration collapses?
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:46 AM