#between italy and germany 2018

[ummick]

"@.SchumacherMick gives away the @.Pirelli award to #kimiraikkonen" - september 1, 2018 📷 @.prema_team / twitter

[reasonsforhope]

"France is to trial a ban on mobile phones at school for pupils up to the age of 15, seeking to give children a “digital pause” that, if judged successful, could be rolled out nationwide from January [2025].

Just under 200 secondary schools will take place in the experiment that will require youngsters to hand over phones on arrival at reception. It takes the prohibition on the devices further than a 2018 law that banned pupils at primary and secondary schools from using their phones on the premises but allowed them to keep possession of them.

Announcing the trial on Tuesday, the acting education minister, Nicole Belloubet, said the aim was to give youngsters a “digital pause”. If the trial proves successful, the ban would be introduced in all schools from January, Belloubet said.

A commission set up by the president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed concern that the overexposure of children to screens was having a detrimental effect on their health and development.

A 140-page report published in March concluded there was “a very clear consensus on the direct and indirect negative effects of digital devices on sleep, on being sedentary, a lack of physical activity and the risk of being overweight and even obese … as well as on sight”.

It said the “hyper” use of phones and other digital technology was not only bad for children but also for “society and civilisation”.

The report recommended children’s use of mobile phones be controlled in stages: no mobile phones before the age of at least 11, mobiles without internet access between 11 and 13, phones with internet but no access to social media before 15.

It also suggested children under three years old should not be exposed at all to digital devices, which it said were “not necessary for the healthy development of the child”.

“We must put the digital tool in its place. Up to at least six years old a child has no need for a digital device to develop,” Servane Mouton, a neurologist and neurophysiologist who was on the commission, said. “We have to teach parents once again how to play with their children.”

Banning phones in schools has long been debated across Europe. In countries where bans exist this is most often confined to their use and do not require children to hand them over.

In Germany there are no formal restrictions but most schools have prohibited the use of mobile phones and digital devices in classrooms except for education purposes. A quasi ban has been in place in Dutch secondary school classrooms since the beginning of this year, but as a recommendation and not a legal obligation. From this school year the directive will also apply to primary schools.

Italy was early to phone bans, introducing one in 2007 before easing it in 2017 and reimposing it in 2022. It applies to all age groups.

In February this year, the Westminster government issued non-statutory guidance that said schools in England should prohibit the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, but that it was for individual headteachers and leaders to decide on their phone use policy.

Portugal is experimenting with a compromise by introducing a number of phone-free days at schools each month, while in Spain schools in some autonomous regions have imposed a ban but there is no nationwide prohibition."

-via The Guardian, August 27, 2024

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #17

May 3-10 2024

Vice President Harris announced 5.5 billion dollars to build affordable housing and address homelessness. The grants will go to 1,200 communities across all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico. 1.3 billion will go to HUD's HOME program which builds, buys, and rehabs affordable housing for rent or ownership. 3.3 billion is headed to Community Development Block Grants which supports housing as well as homeless services, and expanding economic opportunities. Remaining funds focus on building housing for extremely low- and very low-income households, Housing for people struggling with HIV/AIDS, transitional housing for those with substance-use disorder, and money to support homeless shelters and homeless prevention programs.

At the 3rd meeting of the Los Angeles Declaration group in Guatemala Security of State Blinken announced $578 million in new US aid to Latin America. The Los Angeles Declaration is a partnership between the US and 20 other nations in the Americas to address immigration, combat human trafficking, and support economic development and improved quality of life for people in poor nations in the Americas. The bulk of the aid, over $400 million will go to humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people. Inside of Venezuela over 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance due to decades of political and economic instability. Over 7 million more have been forced to flee the country and live in poverty across the Americas. The aid will help Venezuelans both inside and outside of Venezuela.

The Department of Energy lead an effort to get the G7 to agree to phase out coal by the early 2030s. The G7 is a collection of the 7 largest Industrial economies on Earth, the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy. To avoid catastrophic climate change the International Energy Agency believes coal needs to be phased out by 2035. However this has been a sticking point with the G7 since 1/3rd of Japan and 1/4th of Germany's energy comes from Coal. This agreement to phase out represents a major breakthrough and the US plans to press for even wider agreement on the issue at the G20 meeting in November.

President Biden announced a major investment deal in Racine, Wisconsin, site of the failed Trump Foxconn deal. In 2018 then President Trump visited Racine and declared the planned Foxconn plant "the eighth wonder of the world.". However the promised 13,000 jobs never materialized and the Taiwan based Foxconn after bulldozing 100s of homes and farms decided not to build. President Biden inked a deal with Microsoft for the land formally given to Foxconn which will bring 2,000 new jobs to Racine to help replace the 1,000 job losses during Trump's Presidency in the community.

200 tribal governments and the US territories of American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, published climate action plans. The plans were paid for by the Biden Administration as part of a 5 billion dollar Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. The federal government is supporting all 50 states, territories, DC, and tribal governments to draft climate action plans, which will be used to apply for more than 4 billion dollars in grants to help turn plans into reality

As part of marking Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the Biden Administration announced a number of action aimed at combating antisemitism and supporting the Jewish Community. This included $400 million in new funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The Program has supported Synagogues and Jewish Community Centers with security improvements like bullet proof windows and trainings for staff in how to handle active shooter and hostage situations. The Department of Education issued guidance to all schools districts and federally funded colleges stressing that antisemitism is banned under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These actions come as part of the Biden Administration's National Strategy To Counter Antisemitism, the first ever national strategy addressing the issue by any Administration.

USAID announced $220 million in additional humanitarian aid to Yemen. This new funding will bring US aid to Yemen over the last 10 years to nearly $6 billion. Currently 18 million Yemenis are estimated as needing humanitarian assistance, 9 million of them children, and the UN believes nearly 14 million face imminent risk of famine. The US remains the single largest donor nation to humanitarian relief in Yemen.

The Department of Interior announced nearly $150 million to help communities fight drought. The funds will support 42 projects across 10 western states. This is part of the President's $8.3 billion dollar investment in the nations water infrastructure over the next 5 five years.

[subtle-as-an-earthquake]

my dear minnie! for the am ask game, i’d love to know your answers for 2 (specifically one of your favourite memories cause I know you’ve seen the lads quite a few times), 15 & 20 ✨

helloooooo loveliest lauren!! thanks so much for sending me these! 🥰💖

2. have you been to a live show? if so, feel free to share a photo/something particular that struck you about your experience!

i haaaave and i know i’ve already talked about it often enough to be annoying probably, but i’m just going to do it one more time… i’ve seen am live 9 times now (plus tlsp once) and it still feels like it was not nearly enough. these were my shows:

ferrara, italy 2013 (pics below)

düsseldorf, germany 2013

pinkpop, the netherlands 2014

pistoia, italy 2014

tlsp in amsterdam 2016

best kept secret, the netherlands 2018

sheffield, uk 2018 (and the tbhc art exhibition)

london, uk 2023

2x dublin, ireland 2023 (and some 505)

i’ve already shared some pics and videos from some of the shows i’ve been to before, which i’ve linked in list! i think the most memorable shows were my very first one, (obviously tlsp), the one in sheffield and the dublin ones, tbh. but as for my favourite memories... i have so very many, but i particularly still vividly remember my first show in italy (i was studying in venice at the time) bc it was an ✨experience✨

we waited for close to 10 hours in like 34 degree weather, miles was the support act and absolutely killed it, and i got to see them play 505 together for the first time 🥺 i also lost a shoe because it was that crazy, and i accidentally had lunch at the same restaurant as jamie and his family the day after. some pics below to illustrate

(just as a disclaimer: having lunch at the same restaurant as jamie was a total coincidence and i didn't even notice until my friend pointed it out lol. we didn't go up to him or anything, but i had to sneak a quick pic or my brother would have never believed me, and it's been sitting in a locked fb folder for the past 10 years 😅)

15. favourite arctic monkeys b-side?

first track that came to mind was catapult, so i’m going with that one! i truly love it an insane amount. but i’m also a huge fan of electricity, don't forget whose legs you're on, the blond-o-sonic shimmer trap and the afternoon's hat

20. favourite record ender track?

it’s reeeaallllyyyyyy hard to choose between a certain romance and 505, but if we’re talking purely which track feels like the best record ender (not which is my fave out of the two) then i’m going to go with a certain romance. completely perfect, epic, spectacular, melancholic, incredible. that song, man <3

thanks so much again for these questions, and i hope you have the most amazing day xxxx 🌷

[floralcrematorium]

Organizing Hetalia Characters Into Arbitrary Categories: Games In My Steam Library

Italy: Placid Plastic Duck Simulator Cute plastic ducks that you can name???? He's sold, even if they don't do anything Germany: Cities Skylines He owns all of the DLC and miraculously doesn't run into traffic issues like every other player does. With how organized this man is you CANNOT convince me that this dream isn't a dream come true for him. He will spend over an hour going through and making sure all of the traffic light nodes are correct and he spends time thinking about optimization. He might be a little overly invested in his city, though Japan: Plants vs. Zombies or Undertale Japan gives me completionist kinda vibes and I think he would like games that have multiple routes you can take. I thought Plants vs. Zombies because you have to play through the main story several times if you want to get all of the achievements and that's on top of the series of mini-games that exist. As for Undertale, I think having the three different game modes would be fun for him, on top of the millions of easter eggs Toby Fox has hidden throughout the game. I could also see him really liking Portal, but I've already given that to someone else America: Outlast I don't know what you want me to say, I think this one speaks for itself. He's also giving me Portal vibes but I don't think he has the patience for some of the puzzles England: Overcooked! 2 Man can't cook in real life. This also translates to video games. I would like to think that he's gotten decently far into the game, but I'm gonna say he's stuck at level 4-3 because so far that level seem impossible in single player France: Unpacking This man is canonically afraid of computers. I don't know what he would play, so he gets Unpacking. I think he would like the sentimentality of the narrative at least Russia: The Sims 3 or Unturned Sims 3 because I see this man spending far too long planning out families and being devastated when they die. He also refused to upgrade to The Sims 4 when it came out and still holds this grudge (and because I have TS4 on origin not steam lol). Unturned for so many reasons. I think he likes a healthy balance between calmer games and combat games; Unturned isn't a combat game per say, but playing in PVE servers in like 2018 was a nightmare. Man has no fear either, so he's much more willing to take on the roblox-reject looking mega zombies than I ever will be China: Stardew Valley There's so much you can do in this game and I think the variety in content and the art style are what appeal to him most. I think he would like caring for the animals most of all, which couldn't be me, so kudos to him. Don't ask me who his choice in bachelor/bachelorette is because I don't know. I'm not even sure if he would care to befriend many of the NPCs save for Shane for the blue chickens Prussia: Star Wars: Battlefront II I don't have a real reason for this other than Prussia's simultaneously a huge dork and also one of the worst people to be in VC with. He thinks the desktop version of this game sucks, though, and misses the PS2 version (me too) Canada: Portal You can't change my mind on this one. GLaDOS is his favorite once she gets turned into a potato. Also he deserves to have a companion cube plush (it's very fun to throw at people, speaking from experience). He has the patience for puzzle games and I think it's more suited for him than America

[because-its-eurovision]

how do you feel about the running order for the final?

Alright, let's see!

Austria isn't winning, but could pretty easily make it to top-10 still imo. I personally would have swapped Austria's and Poland's places.

Three red and black stagings back-to-back in the beginning

Switzerland is surprisingly early, but I still believe he'll enjoy large jury support

Poland is summery and cheery between two serious boys, good place for them although still very early in the running order

France is practically performing too early to win the televote but I believe juries will love La Zarra more, especially if she nails the big note

Spain and Sweden back to back is an interesting choice. Two female singers with powerful vocals and songs and impressive stagings, both most likely fitting the jury taste. Is this gonna hurt their chances?

There's gonna be a longer pause before Sweden at least. The producers gave Loreen way earlier spot than I would have expected.

The producers are clearly Finland fans. Finland not only got the best possible place on their half a.k.a. the latest possible, but there are also three ballads in a row before them. I believe Käärijä is winning the televote. The only way to rig this more for Finland would've been to put Loreen even earlier in the running order, but that would have been too obvious. This is our shot to win.

I'm afraid Czechia will drown between Finland and Australia, and those two might also have similar-ish audience.

Moldova will be nice, fresh and simple between two big modern songs.

Lovely late spots for Norway and Germany, they're both probably gonna do really well in the televote.

Israel sandwiched between Lithuania and Slovenia, good for them all.

Also small Balkan countries Slovenia and Croatia so late in the running order, we love to see it <3

Croatia is gonna have huge televote support. UK might benefit from the last place and being refreshingly normal after Croatia, also Mae's vocals might sound better than they are compared to Let 3's.

Bonus: great gag to start the contest with "oh my god, you're such a good writer" and end it with "instead I wrote a song"

Some statistics about the running order below 👇

SInce 2009 when the 50/50 jury/tele system come to use, no one has won performing earlier than 10th. In fact, nobody has won the contest performing earlier than 10th in 20 years, when Turkey performed 4th in 2003.

2009: Norway performed 20th 2010: Germany performed 23rd 2011: Azerbaijan performed 19th (jury winner Italy performed 12th) 2012: Sweden performed 17th 2013: Denmark performed 18th 2014: Austria performed 11th 2015: Sweden performed 10th (tele winner Italy performed 27th, last) 2016: Ukraine performed 21st (tele winner Russia performed 18th, jury winner Australia performed 13th) 2017: Portugal performed 11th 2018: Israel performed 22nd (jury winner Austria performed 5th) 2019: Netherlands performed 12th (jury winner North Macedonia performed 8th, tele winner Norway performed 15th) 2021: Italy performed 24th (jury winner Switzerland performed 11th) 2022: Ukraine performed 12th (jury winner United Kingdom performed 22nd)

Juries are clearly less affected by the running order than televoters, so Sweden is still headed to win the whole thing. I believe Loreen will get enough jury support to win the contest (maybe 300 points from the jury and 200 from the televote), but giving her an earlier spot in the running order definitely evens out the competition and makes it more exciting.

[beardedmrbean]

North Korea said a second attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit failed early Thursday, but the reclusive country vowed to launch another in the coming months.

The Malligyeong-1 reconnaissance satellite was mounted on a new type of carrier rocket called the Chollima-1 and launched from a station in North Pyongan province in the early morning hours, according to the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). The first and second stages "all flew normally, but failed due to an error in the emergency explosion system during the flight of the third stage," KCNA said in a statement.

North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration is investigating the cause of the accident and plans to attempt a third launch in October, according to KCNA.

North Korea attempted to launch its first spy satellite on May 31, but it crashed into the West Sea after an "abnormal starting" of the second-stage engine, KCNA said at the time.

MORE: North Korea satellite launch fails, with another promised as 'soon as possible'

In 2018, North Korea claimed to have put a satellite into space but international analysts later said that wasn't true.

Thursday's second attempt coincided with joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, which North Korea has long denounced.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan all issued statements "strongly" condemning North Korea's use of ballistic missile technology for its launch, which despite its failure they said is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The three allies also reaffirmed their commitment to work closely together to achieve "complete denuclearization" of North Korea in line with the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"This space launch involved technologies that are directly related to the DPRK intercontinental ballistic missile program," Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a statement, using the acronym for North Korea's official name. "The President’s national security team is assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners."

"The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and instead choose engagement," Watson added. "The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the defense of our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies."MORE: US, Japan and South Korea's leaders hold historic meeting as threats from China, North Korea loom large

The incident was assessed as not posting "an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, territory, or that of our allies," according to a statement from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which noted that it would "continue to monitor the situation."

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the military "was prepared in advance through identifying signs of an imminent launch."

The office for Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed that he held a telephone call with his South Korean and U.S. counterparts on Thursday morning to discuss North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch. The three officials agreed that the launches are happening "in an unprecedented frequency and in new manners" and that they "constitute a grave and imminent threat to the regional security and pose a clear and serious challenge to the international community," according to a statement from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Group of Seven, an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S., also released a statement condemning "in the strongest terms" North Korea's launch.

[demifiendrsa]

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch for PlayStation 5 on October 20, 2023.

Latest details via PlayStation Blog

Everyone at Insomniac Games is thrilled to announce that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will launch on Friday, October 20th, 2023, only on PlayStation 5. After the amazing fan reception for Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales in 2020, the team has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make this third installment in the franchise the sequel you have been waiting for. Built from the ground up for PlayStation 5 console, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will unlock the power of the console with better visuals, faster web swinging (and web wings!), 3D Audio*, and near-instant character switching. We speak for all our collaborators and friends at PlayStation and Marvel Games, when we say that we cannot wait for you to get your hands on this incredible single-player open-world experience.

*3D Audio via built-in TV speakers or analogue/USB stereo headphones.

In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, players will get to experience Marvel’s New York as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. As you saw in the PlayStation Showcase last month—the main storyline of the game will have you take control of both Spider-Men at different points of the campaign. In the open world, you will be able to switch nearly instantly between them as you explore Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn. Both Spider-Men have stories and missions in the world exclusive to each of them.

As you can see from our box art, Peter and Miles are both key protagonists in our story. The iconic red background returns, but darkness surrounds as fan-favorite villains like Venom, Lizard, and Kraven threaten them and Marvel’s New York. You will also notice that each character’s arm represents their new abilities: Peter with the symbiote, Miles with his evolved bioelectric Venom powers.

In addition to our launch date, we are excited to walk you through your options for experiencing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Pre-orders will open on June 16th, 2023 at all participating retailers, PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Direct. Pre-Orders will go live at 10:00 AM local time on June 16, 2023. Fans who pre-order any version of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will receive an early unlock Arachknight Suit for Peter with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Shadow Spider Suit for Miles with 3 additional color variants, an early unlock Web Grabber gadget, and 3 skill points to get you started!

You will see the beautiful box art adorning the standard edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for $69.99 / £69.99/ €79.99/ ¥8,980 MSRP. But that is not all! There will be a Digital Deluxe and Collector’s Edition of the game!

The Digital Deluxe edition of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 ($79.99 / £79.99/ €89.99/ ¥9,980 MSRP) will include the game, all the pre-order incentives, as well as 10 unique suits (5 for Peter, 5 for Miles), additional Photo Mode frames and stickers, and 2 additional skill points.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that these 10 suits were designed by guest artists across comics, films, and PlayStation Studios! The featured artists are Kris Anka, Julia Blattman, Sweeney Boo, Anthony Francisco, Raf Grassetti, Jerad Maantz, Joel Mandish, Darren Quach, and Victoria Ying!

For our hardcore Spider-Man fans out there who want an incredible Spider-Man collectible alongside Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we have just the edition for you while supplies last. The Collector’s Edition ($229.99 / £219.99/ €249.99/ ¥31,790 MSRP) includes a voucher for the Digital Deluxe Edition, as well as a Steelbook® case, and an extraordinary, high-quality 19-inch statue featuring our Spider-Men battling fan-favorite Venom. Fans can order the Collector’s Edition on PlayStation Direct in those select markets (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Austria, Spain, Portugal) starting at 10AM local time on June 16th, 2023.

For those countries that do not have PlayStation Direct, be on the lookout for more information on how you can secure a Collector’s Edition in your region.

[i12bent]

Troels Wörsel (Nov. 10, 1950 - 2018) was a Danish conceptual artist who lived abroad since 1979 - first in Germany, then in Italy. Wörsel always explored the balance between perception and representation in art - perhaps inspired by Wittgenstein and other philosophers he admired.

His work is found at all large Danish museums and quite a few select foreign ones, including MoMA, Centre Pompidou in Paris ,Moderna Museet Stockholm, Kiasma in Helsinki, and Nasjonalmuseet Oslo.

Above: Le Rêve, 2011 - Acrylic on canvas, Rococo frame in Louis XV-style from 1780 in gilded oak (SMK)

[stephensmithuk]

The Naval Treaty

The twenty-second Sherlock Holmes short story, this was originally published in two parts in The Strand due to its length.

I am guessing Dantzig is a misspelling of Danzig, the city then in Germany and now Gdansk in Poland.

The Foreign Office is now known as the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, having absorbed two other ministries since the Second World War. It is of course Britain's equivalent of the Department of State.

"Fifth form" would be Year 11 or the 10th Grade in modern parlance.

Woking is the first stop for many express trains from Waterloo and can be reached in under half an hour by modern electric train.

The area is also home to the Brookwood Cemetery, a massive burial ground set up in 1852 to handle the large numbers of dead from London due to the burial grounds there being full up. It even had its own railway line (the London Necropolis Railway) and special station next to Waterloo, with special trains and different classes available. The dead could only get single tickets. The London terminus of the line was wrecked in the Blitz in 1941 and never reopened.

The excess land for this cemetry was sold off and used for housing, Woking had become a notable commuter town by this time.

The Triple Alliance was the alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy signed in 1882; it ran with period renewals up until 1915, when Italy entered the First World War on the side of Britain, France and Russia. There were attempts to get the British to join it in 1891.

The FCDO main building in Whitehall sometimes opens some of its areas to the public and has an interior suitably designed to impress any foreign visitors.

The Coldstream Guards are a very long-standing regiment of the British Army, originally formed in 1650. It is one of the regiments tasked with protecting the monarchy, partly by standing very still in a pillbox, but has also fought in the majority of British wars to date.

The last peer to date to have been Foreign Secretary was Peter Carrington, who held the post under Margaret Thatcher from 1979 to 1982. He resigned after the Falklands invasion, taking responsibility for the failure to predict it, but later ended up NATO's Secretary General and died in 2018 aged 99.

[mariacallous]

In a move that left political observers scratching their heads, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently called early elections for July 23, five months ahead of schedule. Sánchez cited his left-wing coalition’s poor performance in May 28 local and regional elections as the impetus for his decision, taking personal responsibility for defeats by the conservative opposition. “Spaniards should clarify which political forces they want to take the lead,” Sánchez said after the results were announced.

By moving up the national vote, Sánchez is sacrificing valuable campaign time that could allow him to shore up his base and attack the opposition. He also risks angering the public by dominating the summer with what is expected to be an intensely fought political campaign; Spain has never before held a general election in the middle of the season, raising concerns about low turnout.

At first glance, Sánchez’s decision to call for early elections seems baffling—and potentially self-defeating. But there is a fair bit of strategy behind his decision.

Sánchez leads the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, or PSOE, which has ruled Spain longer than any other party since the country became a democracy in 1977 following the death of its longtime dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco. The party has been the engine behind Spain’s most important political, economic, and social changes over the years. PSOE’s accomplishments include shaping key provisions in Spain’s democratic constitution that was enacted by a 1978 referendum, such as a stipulation allowing for regional self-governance; guiding the country’s 1986 accession to the European Economic Community, a precursor to the European Union; and ushering in a revolution in social rights, including legalizing divorce, abortion, gay marriage, and euthanasia.

The PSOE has kept social democracy a viable political force in Spain at a time when it has struggled for relevance elsewhere in Western Europe. While social democratic parties in Italy, France, and Germany have in recent years either collapsed or become shadows of their former selves, the PSOE has thrived by shifting right on the economy—embracing some austerity measures—while pushing hard on cultural issues like LGBTQ+ rights, social justice, and gender parity.

Sánchez has been in power since 2018, following the ouster of then-Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy—a member of the conservative People’s Party (PP)—by a no-confidence vote triggered by a party-wide corruption scandal. That year, Sánchez made history in Spain by introducing a female-dominated cabinet. He then won a general election in November 2019 and was able to form a coalition with an electoral alliance led by Podemos, a left-wing populist party. It was Spain’s first coalition government since re-democratization.

For many voters, the prime minister has lost the luster of his initial years in office. A big culprit is COVID-19. Spain was hit especially hard by the pandemic, forcing Sánchez to implement one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. Although an economic recovery is underway—Spain’s economy is projected to grow faster this year than the Eurozone average—this statistic is of little consolation to those hit by inflation and other economic ills. Sánchez also has yet to solve the Catalonia crisis: The prime minister has been willing to engage in negotiations with the region’s separatists but has refused to offer them the official independence referendum they seek.

Now, Sánchez hopes to use early elections to stop the political bleeding from his base—and prevent an implosion of his left-wing coalition. In the May 28 local and regional elections, the PSOE and Podemos sustained losses virtually everywhere, including in traditional strongholds such as Valencia and Andalusia.

Most observers expect a tight national race between the PSOE and the PP, and some polls show the PP ahead. The PP is benefiting from new leadership in the form of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, a former president of the Galicia region. Feijóo took over the party after the scandal-prone and divisive leadership of Pablo Casado, Sánchez’s principal opponent in the 2019 general elections. But polls indicate the PP will not be able to form a government without support from the far-right Vox party, which is currently registering a little over 10 percent in national opinion surveys. By calling early elections and catching the PP off guard, Sánchez believes he can weaken his conservative opponents as they deliberate on how to approach Vox.

Vox currently controls 52 seats in the Spanish Congress of Deputies—the third-largest force in that chamber—and, like most far-right parties, is extremely controversial. The party opposes LGBTQ+ rights, gender parity, and ongoing efforts to help Spain cope with the dark legacies of the Franco period. In particular, Vox has called for revoking the Law of Historical Memory, a landmark piece of legislation the PSOE enacted in 2007 that offered reparations to the victims of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s political repression and deemed Franco’s regime illegitimate; and the 2022 Democratic Memory Law, which voided all court rulings issued under the old dictatorship, compelled the government to exhume the remains of those killed during the Civil War and the dictatorship and buried in mass graves, and banned the Francisco Franco National Foundation, which had promoted Franco’s legacy in democratic Spain. Vox has deemed both laws divisive and an attempt to rewrite history.

Vox’s political platform also includes erecting a wall around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish enclaves in northern Africa that have become flashpoints in EU migration policy. Even more controversial is Vox’s proposal to hold a national referendum to ban separatist parties, such as the Republican Left of Catalonia, one of the parties responsible for the illegal 2017 referendum on Catalan independence. Banning separatist parties would likely be illegal, since Spanish law only allows for barring parties involved in criminal activity. (In the post-Franco era, only one party has been banned by the courts: Batasuna, the political wing of the Basque terrorist organization ETA, in 2003.)

There is little sign that Vox intends to moderate its stances going into the elections. “Kicking out Pedro Sánchez to repeal each and every one of his policies” will be the party’s focus, Santiago Abascal, Vox’s leader, said in reaction to the prime minister’s call for early elections. Feijóo, who hails from the moderate wing of the PP, is wary of embracing Vox. But he is also refusing to say whether he would welcome Vox as a political partner, knowing that he might need the party to form a government. As a sign that Feijóo might welcome a national coalition with Vox, he last year approved Vox’s entry into a coalition with the PP to govern the conservative region of Castilla y León in north-central Spain.

On the campaign trail, Sánchez is working overtime to tie Feijóo to Vox. Sánchez is also ramping up his rhetoric about the danger a Vox entry into national government would pose for Spain, even as a junior partner to the more moderate PP. He has warned that Vox could undo or weaken legal protections for abortion and same-sex marriage and rekindle the country’s fascist past. He has even framed the upcoming election as a choice between democracy and autocracy, referencing recent elections in the United States and Brazil. “Spaniards need to decide if they want a government on the side of Biden or Trump,” Sánchez told PSOE members when justifying his call for early elections.

Sánchez is hoping that early elections will help consolidate Spain’s left—the only way he could win reelection. His strategy is already working: Podemos and Sumar—another progressive left-wing party—announced on June 9 that they will run as a single entity along with 13 other left-wing parties. The deal was struck just hours before political parties were required to register for the July 23 elections.

Sumar is an offshoot of Podemos and is a part of Sánchez’s coalition. Its leader, Yolanda Díaz, is Sánchez’s minister of labor and Spain’s most popular politician. She is credited with negotiating a popular pandemic-era program that kept as many as 7 million Spaniards dependent on the state for their income, including furloughed workers and those on medical leave. She also spearheaded Spain’s 2022 labor reform, which cracked down on short-term contracts and secured new union protections. Díaz and other progressives in the Sánchez government are credited with securing the “Iberian exception,” which allows Spain and Portugal to cap electricity prices rather than tie them to the free market—something no other EU member states are permitted to do.

In pressuring Podemos and Sumar to run together, Sánchez hopes to overwhelm any possible coalition the PP could form after the elections. Spain’s electoral law rewards large parties and intraparty coalitions. A poll from El País found that if Sumar and Podemos ran separately, they would win 26 and 3 parliamentary seats, respectively, while a unified platform would net 41 seats—vastly improving the prospects of the left remaining in power.

Undoubtedly, winning reelection will be Sánchez’s biggest challenge to date. He is facing an emboldened right, a splintered left, and restless separatists. But he should not be underestimated. Sánchez’s political obituary has been written before, most notably in 2016, when he was removed from his position as PSOE president. He regained the position a year later and rose to power in 2018. Shortly thereafter, he survived a Catalan separatist attempt to sink his government by forcing him into new elections. It is within him to pull off another victory.

[jcmarchi]

Gamma-ray Burst Strikes Earth from Distant Exploding Star - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/gamma-ray-burst-strikes-earth-from-distant-exploding-star-technology-org/

Gamma-ray Burst Strikes Earth from Distant Exploding Star - Technology Org

An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere.

Such disturbances are usually associated with energetic particle events on the Sun but this one resulted from an exploding star almost two billion light-years away. Analysing the effects of the blast could provide information about the mass extinctions in Earth’s history.

Gamma-ray burst strikes Earth from the distant exploding star. Image credit: ESA/ATG Europe; CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO 

At 14:21 BST / 15:21 CEST on 9 October 2022, an extremely bright and long-lasting gamma-ray burst (GRB) was detected by many of the high-energy satellites in orbit close to the Earth, including ESA’s Integral mission. 

The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) was launched by ESA in 2002 and has been detecting gamma-ray bursts almost every day since that time. However, GRB 221009A, as the blast was named, was anything but ordinary. “It was probably the brightest gamma-ray burst we have ever detected,” says Mirko Piersanti, University of L’Aquila, Italy, and lead author of the team publishing these results today. 

Gamma-ray bursts were once mysterious events but are now recognised to be the outpouring of energy from exploding stars called supernovae, or from the collision of two super-dense neutron stars. 

“We’ve been measuring gamma-ray bursts since the 1960s, and this is the strongest ever measured,” says co-author Pietro Ubertini, National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, Italy, and the principal investigator for Intergral’s IBIS instrument. So strong in fact that its nearest rival on record is ten times weaker. Statistically, a GRB as strong as GRB 221009A arrives at Earth only once every 10 000 years. 

During the 800 seconds that the gamma rays were impacting, the burst delivered enough energy to activate lightning detectors in India. Instruments in Germany picked up signs that Earth’s ionosphere was disturbed for several hours by the blast. This extreme amount of energy gave the team the idea to look for the burst’s effects on Earth’s ionosphere. 

The ionosphere is the layer of Earth’s upper atmosphere that contains electrically charged gases called plasma. It stretches from around 50 km to 950 km in altitude. Researchers refer to it as the top-side ionosphere above 350 km, and the bottom-side ionosphere below that. The ionosphere is so tenuous that spacecraft can hold orbits in most of the ionosphere. 

One of those spacecraft is the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES), also known as Zhangheng, a Chinese-Italian space mission. It was launched in 2018 and monitors the top side of the ionosphere for changes in its electromagnetic behaviour.

Its primary mission is to study possible links between changes in the ionosphere and the occurrence of seismic events such as earthquakes, but it can also study the impact of solar activity on the ionosphere. 

Both Mirko and Pietro are part of the science team for CSES and they realised that if the GRB had created a disturbance, CSES should have seen it. But they could not be sure. “We had looked for this effect from other GRBs in the past but had seen nothing,” says Pietro.

Gamma-ray burst illustration. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

In the past, GRBs have been spotted affecting the bottom-side ionosphere during the night, when the solar influence is removed, but never in the top side. This had led to the belief that by the time it reached Earth, the blast from a GRB was no longer powerful enough to produce a variation in the ionospheric conductivity leading to an electric field variation.  

This time, however, when the scientists looked, their luck was different. The effect was obvious and strong. For the first time ever, they saw an intense perturbation in the form of a strong electric field variation in the top-side ionosphere. “It is amazing. We can see things that are happening in deep space but are also affecting Earth,” says Erik Kuulkers, ESA Project Scientist.

This particular GRB took place in a galaxy almost 2 billion light-years away – hence two billion years ago – yet it still had enough energy to affect Earth. While the Sun is typically the primary source of radiation robust enough to affect Earth’s ionosphere, this GRB triggered instruments generally reserved for studying the immense explosions in the Sun’s atmosphere known as solar flares.

“Notably, this disturbance impacted the very lowest layers of Earth’s ionosphere, situated just tens of kilometres above our planet’s surface, leaving an imprint comparable to that of a major solar flare,” says Laura Hayes, research fellow and solar physicist at ESA. 

This imprint came in the form of an increase in ionisation in the bottom-side ionosphere. It was detected in very low frequency radio signals that bounce between the ground and Earths lower ionosphere. “Essentially, we can say that the ionosphere ‘moved’ down to lower altitudes, and we detected this in how the radio waves bounce along the ionosphere,” explains Laura, who published these results in 2022.  

It reinforces the idea that a supernova in our own galaxy might have much more serious consequences. “There has been a great debate about the possible consequences of a gamma-ray burst in our own galaxy,” says Mirko. 

In the worst case, the burst would not only affect the ionosphere, it could also damage the ozone layer, allowing dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the Sun to reach Earth’s surface. Such an effect has been speculated to be a possible cause of some of the mass extinction events known to have taken place on Earth in the past. But to investigate the idea, we will need a lot more data. 

[embedded content]

Now that they know exactly what to search for, the team has already started looking back into the data collected by CSES and correlating it with the other gamma-ray bursts seen by Integral.

And while they can only go back to 2018, when CSES was launched, a follow-up mission has already been planned, ensuring that this fascinating new window into the way Earth interacts with even the very distant Universe will now remain open.  

Source: European Space Agency

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[residentraccoon]

Eurovision 2017 vs 2018

Inspired by @six-paths-of-jeanmarco (I really wanted to try this sorry lmao)

Albania: World vs Mall

Armenia: Fly with Me vs Qami

Australia: Don't Come Easy vs We Got Love

Austria: Running on Air vs Nobody but You

Azerbaijan: Skeletons vs X My Heart

Belarus: Story of My Life vs Forever

Belgium: City Lights vs A Matter of Time

Bulgaria: Beautiful Mess vs Bones

Croatia: My Friend vs Crazy

Cyprus: Gravity vs Fuego

Czechia: My Turn vs Lie to Me

Denmark: Where I Am vs Higher Ground

Estonia: Verona vs La forza

Finland: Blackbird vs Monsters

France: Requiem vs Mercy

Georgia: Keep the Faith vs For You

Germany: Perfect Life vs You Let Me Walk Alone

Greece: This Is Love vs Oniro mou

Hungary: Origo vs Viszlát nyár

Iceland: Paper vs Our Choice

Ireland: Dying to Try vs Together

Israel: I Feel Alive vs Toy

Italy: Occidentali's Karma vs Non mi avete fatto niente

Latvia: Line vs Funny Girl

Lithuania: Rain of Revolution vs When We're Old (UNPOPULAR OPINION IK IM SORRY)

Malta: Breathlessly vs Taboo

Moldova: Hey Mamma vs My Lucky Day (WHY I love both wtf)

Montenegro: Space vs Inje

Netherlands: Lights and Shadows vs Outlaw in 'Em

North Macedonia: Dance Alone vs Lost and Found

Norway: Grab the Moment vs That's How You Write a Song

Poland: Flashlight vs Light Me Up

Portugal: Amar pelos dois vs O jardim

Romania: Yodel It! vs Goodbye

Russia: Flame Is Burning vs I Won't Break (none lmao)

San Marino: Spirit of the Night vs Who We Are

Serbia: In Too Deep vs Nova deca

Slovenia: On My Way vs Hvala, ne!

Spain: Do It for Your Lover vs Tu canción

Sweden: I Can't Go On vs Dance You Off

Switzerland: Apollo vs Stones (again why do you make me choose between these two)

Ukraine: Time vs Under the Ladder

United Kingdom: Never Give Up on You vs Storm

2017: 20

2018: 22

[canchewread]

Editor’s note: Bookish Bits is a regular literary writing column on Can’t You Read. Featuring both traditional book reviews, and expanded essays, this book blog encompasses all of my writing about the volumes in my extensive library.

Birdwatching With Liberal Antifascism: A Review of “How Fascism Works: the Politics of Us and Them” by Jason Stanley.

If you've been reading my anti-fascist analysis long enough, you'll know that I'm often quite critical of the imagined efforts of "liberal antifascists" in the Pig Empire. This is in part because foundationally, it's awfully hard to be an effective antifascist without also being an anticapitalist. It has also been my experience however that affluent liberals in positions of actual power are often far less interested in fighting fascists, than protecting their own wealth; if forced to choose between the two, they will quickly abandon all pretenses at opposing the fascist creep and side with hierarchal capitalist power to the bitter end. There is after all a reason I refer to this as our collective "Weimar America" period.

How then are we to approach an intelligent, well-read, genuinely sincere liberal antifascist? Even more perplexing, what does a reasonable observer do when this sincere liberal antifascist has produced what amounts to a fantastic birdwatching guide that allows even small children to recognize fascist politics in action, but offers up only vaguely reformist solutions that flatly will not stop the fascist creep? In short, how do we address a book like Jason Stanley's 2018 work "How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them?" In the end, I've decided that the only honest way forward is to critique what Stanley's book is, rather than focus on what it is not.

So what is it? Expressed simply, How Fascism Works is a collection and analysis of ten objectively fascist political tactics being used to seize control by contemporary far right, ultranationalist movements across the Pig Empire. A study of both rhetoric and process, the author's work isn't about fascist governments, so much as the political movements that put them in power. Although Stanley does spend some time discussing twentieth-century fascist regimes like the Nazis in Germany, or Mussolini's fascist Italy, his focus is very much in the here and now, along with the type of reactionary, eliminationist politics that empowered leaders such as Narendra Modi in India, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and of course Donald Trump in America.

Just what are these fascist political techniques? Stanley identifies them as a call to a "mythic past," inverted reactionary "propaganda," fervent "anti-intellectualism," the enforcement of "unreality," insistence on the existence of a natural "hierarchy," imagined "victimhood," rigid enforcement of authoritarian "law and order," manipulation of "sexual anxiety," casting internal lifestyle differences in the mold of "Sodom and Gomorrah," and otherized presumptions about work ethic and productive value to society. Although each of these pillars are individually present in all types of reactionary politics across the Pig Empire; taken together, they represent clear evidence of a fascist movement in progress - which is the best time to identify fascism; since once it's no longer a fascist movement, but rather a fascist regime, it's far too late to stop it.

Within the narrow, but still relevant confines of studying fascist political practices on the path to power in a faux liberal democracy, I'd have to say How Fascism Works is a smashing success. Drawing heavily from thinkers like Eco, Adorno, and Arendt, Stanley's analysis highlights not only the practices of fascist politicians, but also why they're so effective in convincing the classic "authoritarian personality" type to surrender all autonomy, and indeed rational thought, to fascist charlatans and strongmen. In this regard, Stanley's book might more accurately be called "How Fascism Works (on bootlickers, to dismantle capitalist faux democracies)" instead. Still, for folks primarily concerned with the practical realities of identifying modern fascist movements, and unwinding their poisonous political arguments, How Fascism Works will definitely deliver the goods.

Which unfortunately brings us to the pushback against Stanley's work, and why How Fascism Works is simultaneously a valuable resource, and a dangerous diversion from effective antifascist practices. While many reactionary observers have criticized Stanley for failing to define what fascism is; I don't think that critique is accurate or in good faith. Stanley does define fascism in a purely political context; wingers simply don't like that his definition accurately describes their current political practices. The author clearly states he's not talking about the policies of established regimes, or even the ideology of fascist movements, but rather their methods of acquiring power; you can't crush a guy for failing to write the book you would have preferred to read, and I don't give two wet horse apples whether or not American fascists dislike a Yale professor calling them, well, fascists.

Perhaps more surprisingly however, How Fascism Works has also drawn criticism from some antifascists; particularly those like myself, who largely agree with Trotsky's analysis about what fascism really is, and why it is unleashed by the ruling classes in a liberal democratic society that appears more free than it is. There is literally no anticapitalist component to either Stanley's analysis, or his wholly inadequate proposed solutions; which more or less boil down to "liberal politicians need to be better true liberals and we all need to vote harder to protect our democratic institutions." The end result is in effect a wonderful book about types of nazi birds, and the modern habits of those birds, without much discussion of why the birds are there and what to do if they're trying to kill you for capitalists and hierarchal power.

Does that ultimately matter? Well, that depends on what you want a book like How Fascism Works to accomplish. In light of its widespread popularity, I would say it has been an effective part of the mainstream discourse that has finally at this late a date, allowed liberals to accurately describe the American right's current evolution as fascist; albeit, tepidly so. By that same measure, Stanley's insistence that the liberal democratic order that birthed this fascist movement is the only answer to the problem, probably hasn't helped many of those people become effective antifascists; as evidenced by the fact that Joe Biden has been president for almost two years, and American fascism is still growing politically stronger by the day.

In the final analysis, all of this makes Stanley's How Fascism Works a wonderfully written, extremely informative "birdwatching" book for liberals who'd like to be antifascists, but don't know how to spot and resist the fascist propaganda all around them. If you're looking for an accessible way to get your Dem-voting Auntie who really misses the quiet dignity of bygone liberal politicians like Bobby Kennedy, or John Lewis, onside in the war against contemporary fascism, this is probably the book you want to buy for her. If on the other hand you're looking for a deep theory discussion about why capitalist societies are always capable of turning fascist at any moment, and how we can stamp out the serpent of violent reaction forever; this book doesn't have a whole lot to offer you.

On the basis that you can't punish a book for failing to be something it never promised you in the first place, I'm going to give How Fascism Works three and a half stars. Although I acknowledge that Stanley's work here is excellent, his ideological concessions to capitalist realism make it impossible to call this great antifascist scholarship. Plus I felt obligated to dock him a half star for excessive West Wing-esque rhapsodizing about liberal democratic institutions that can't stop fascism; because they were designed by, and are controlled by, reactionary capitalists who prefer fascism to sharing.

nina illingworth

Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

Updates available on Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon and Facebook.

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“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”

[usafphantom2]

NATO launches Air Defender 23, the largest aerial exercise in its history

In the multinational exercise Air Defender 23, 25 nations come together to train in joint air operations in the skies of Europe.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 12/06/2023 - 12:00 in Military

From June 12 to 23, up to 10,000 participants from 25 nations, along with 250 aircraft, will participate in Air Defender 23, NATO's largest air training exercise in European airspace, under the leadership of the German Air Force.

Air Defender 23 aims to demonstrate the unity of its members in the face of potential threats, namely from Russia.

The following nations are participating: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States. Aircraft from partner nations will be parked at various locations in Germany during the exercise.

About 10,000 military personnel are participating in the exercise. Among the 250 aircraft involved are 23 different types of aircraft. About 100 of these aircraft come from 42 federal states of the United States and are being deployed in Europe. The U.S. National Air Guard supplies most of them.

The three main hubs during Air Defender 23 are Schleswig/Hohn, Wunstorf and Lechfeld. The exercises will be carried out mainly in three aerial spaces over Germany. Exercise areas are based on areas that have been used by the German Air Force for routine training for decades. However, they have been expanded to the Air Defender 23 and are partially connected by corridors.

Flight altitudes during Air Defender in the three training areas range from 2,500 to 15,000 meters or more. No mission is usually flown below that. Refueling usually occurs at altitudes ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 meters. Jet fighter training flights take place at altitudes of 2,500 or 3,000 meters, depending on the activated airspace.

Low-level flights by jets and transport aircraft are planned in a part of the eastern air exercise area known as Fight 1. This training area extends to the north of Brandenburg, parts of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Baltic Sea. The airspace is reserved for these low-level flights for three hours in a row every day from June 12 to 22. In addition, sporadic low-level flights will take place in the military training areas of Baumholder and Grafenwoehr.

The exercise was projected in 2018, in part in response to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, although it does not specifically target anyone, explained General Ingo Gerhartz, head of the German Air Force, during the presentation of the exercise.

NATO is determined to defend “every centimeter” of its territory, but “no flight will be sent, for example, to Kaliningrad,” the Russian enclave bordering Poland and Lithuania, members of NATO, assured General Gerhartz. "We are a defensive alliance and this is how this exercise is planned," emphasized the general.

However, these maneuvers will also aim to send a message, in particular to Russia, as the United States Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann explained to the press: “I would be very surprised if a world leader did not notice what he shows in terms of the spirit of this alliance, which means the strength of this alliance, and this includes Mr. Putin,” the Russian president, she argued.

The exercise will involve operational and tactical training, mainly in Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia. The exercise aims to "complete the permanent presence of the United States in Europe" and provide training "on a larger scale than is normally performed on the continent," said General Michael Loh, director of the U.S. National Air Guard. "It is about establishing what it means to face a great power in the context of competition between great powers". There are no plans at this stage to make "Air Defender" a regular exercise, Gutmann said. But, she added, "we don't want this exercise to be the last".

Tags: Air DefenderMilitary AviationJoint ExercisesNATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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Fernando Valduga

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Daytona Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work around the world of aviation.

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[danielfuckingricciardo]

Because I’m in the Eurovision mood I thought I’d share my favourite song from each country (past and present!)

1. Albania 🇦🇱

2022 - Sekret // Ronela Hajati

2. Andorra 🇦🇩

2006 - Sense Tu // Jennifer

3. Armenia 🇦🇲

2014 - Not Alone // Aram MP3

4. Australia 🇦🇺

2015 - Tonight Again // Guy Sebastian

5. Austria 🇦🇹

2014 - Rise Like a Phoenix // Conchita Wurst

(This song makes me feel emotions every time damn it!)

6. Azerbaijan 🇦🇿

2021 - Mata Hari // Efendi

7. Belarus 🇧🇾

2014 - Cheesecake // Teo

(Underrated tune fr)

8. Belgium 🇧🇪

2015 - Rhythm Inside // Loïc Nottet

9. Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦

2011 - Love in Rewind // Dino Merlín

10. Bulgaria 🇧🇬

2017 - Beautiful Mess // Kristian Kostov

11. Croatia 🇭🇷

2023 - Mama ŠČ! // Let 3

12. Cyprus 🇨🇾

2018 - Fuego // Eleni Foureira

13. Czechia 🇨🇿

2019 - Friend of a Friend // Lake Malawi

(Was very hard to choose between this one and Lie To Me. It’s a very close second)

14. Denmark 🇩🇰

2021 - Øve Os På Hinanden // Fyr Og Flamme

(Was robbed in the semi-finals imo)

15. Estonia 🇪🇪

2015 - Goodbye to Yesterday // Elina Born + Stig Rästa

16. Finland 🇫🇮

2022 - Jezebel // The Rasmus

(Should have done so much better imo)

17. France 🇫🇷

2016 - J’ai Cherché // Amir

18. Georgia 🇬🇪

2011 - One More Day // Eldrine

19. Germany 🇩🇪

2011 - Taken by a Stranger // Lena

(Better than Satellite for sure, but Satellite slaps too)

20. Greece 🇬🇷

2008 - Secret Combination // Kalomira

21. Hungary 🇭🇺

2018 - Viszlát Nyár // AWS

22. Iceland 🇮🇸

2020 - Think About Things // Daði og Gagnamagnið

(Basic I know but it’s just such a good tune)

23. Ireland 🇮🇪

2011 - Lipstick // Jedward

(Not sorry about this one it slaps and Jedward are my kings)

24. Israel 🇮🇱

2015 - Golden Boy // Nadav Guedj

25. Italy 🇮🇹

(Gonna have to do a top five because I have such a thing for Italy in Eurovision I can’t pick just one oop)

2017 - Occidentali’s Karma // Francesco Gabbani

2015 - Grande Amore // Il Volo

2018 - Non Mi Avette Fatto Niente // Ermal Meta + Fabrizio Moro

2021 - Zitti E Buoni // Måneskin

2019 - Soldi // Mahmood

26. Latvia 🇱🇻

2022 - Eat Your Salad // Citi Zēni

(As a vegetarian and a bisexual I approve this message)

27. Lithuania 🇱🇹

2021 - Discotheque // The Roop

28. Luxembourg 🇱🇺

1988 - Croire // Lara Fabian

29. Malta 🇲🇹

2022 - Je Me Casse // Destiny

30. Moldova 🇲🇩

(My second favourite Eurovision country so here’s a top three)

2022 - Trenulețul // Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers

2018 - My Lucky Day // DoReDos

2017 - Hey Mamma // Sunstroke Project

31. Monaco 🇲🇨

1964 - Où Sont-elles Passées? // Romuald

(When I say I have an obsession with this song I mean it. PS Monaco plz come back we miss you!!)

32. Montenegro 🇲🇪

2015 - Adio // Knez

- Ranking Morocco doesn’t really feel fair because they only participated once lol -

33. The Netherlands 🇳🇱

2016 - Slow Down // Douwe Bob

(Hehe 33 Max Verstappen number it’s fate fr)

34. North Macedonia 🇲🇰

2012 - Crno I Belo // Kaliopi

35. Norway 🇳🇴

2009 - Fairytale // Alexander Rybak

(Listen I know it’s a basic choice but this song is iconic for a reason y’know? It slaps)

36. Poland 🇵🇱

2022 - River // Ochman

(King of the vocals fr brings me to tears every time)

37. Portugal 🇵🇹

2021 - Love is On My Side // The Black Mamba

38. Romania 🇷🇴

2010 - Playing With Fire // Paula Seling + Ovi

39. Russia 🇷🇺

2016 - You are the Only One // Sergey Lazarev

(Listen I’m a Sergey Lazarev stan first and human second. Between 2016 and 2018 I almost exclusively listened to his back catalogue and nothing else)

40. San Marino 🇸🇲

(Underrated country fr no one gets them like I do so they also get a top three)

2022 - Stripper // Achille Lauro

2021 - Adrenalina // Senhit + Flo-Rida

2019 - Say Na Na Na // Serhat

41. Serbia 🇷🇸

2023 - Samo Mi Se Spava // Luke Black

- Also not counting Serbia and Montenegro because they don’t have an emoji flag and they only participated twice -

42. Slovakia 🇸🇰

2010 - Horehronie // Kristina Pelakova

43. Slovenia 🇸🇮

2023 - Carpe Diem // Joker Out

44. Spain 🇪🇸

2019 - La Venda // Miki

(When I say this song was robbed I mean it. One of the biggest injustices faced in Eurovision was Miki coming 22nd)

45. Sweden 🇸🇪

(Sweden get a top three because they’re Sweden… they always slay)

2015 - Heroes // Måns Zelmerlöw

2012 - Euphoria // Loreen

2017 - I Can’t Go On // Robin Bengtsson

46. Switzerland 🇨🇭

2021 - Tout l'Univers // Gjon’s Tears

47. Türkiye 🇹🇷

2010 - We Could Be The Same // maNga

(Türkiye come back we miss you!!)

48. Ukraine 🇺🇦

(Another slay country so here’s a top three)

2018 - Under the Ladder // MELOVIN

2007 - Dancing Lasha Tumbai // Verka Serduchka

2021 - Shum // Go_A

49. United Kingdom 🇬🇧

(In the name of patriotism, of which I have very little, let’s do a top five + an honourable mention)

2012 - Love Will Set You Free // Engelbert Humperdinck

2022 - SPACE MAN // Sam Ryder

1981 - Making Your Mind Up // Buck’s Fizz

1968 - Congratulations // Cliff Richard

1976 - Save Your Kisses for Me // Brotherhood of Man

+ my honourable mention, Freaks // Jordan Clarke which should have been our song for 2019 but the British general public have no taste. I firmly believe this is why they no longer trust us to hold a national selection anymore lol

50. Yugoslavia *insert flag here*

1989 - Rock Me // Riva

(Basic choice I know, to pick their only winning song, but it slaps)

And that’s everyone!! Feel free to judge me hard for my tastes lol 😂