Eurobloat #0176 • December 2024
December 2024 saw Brussels mandate the charger in your pocket, clinch a vast trade deal that set its own farmers and governments at war, and postpone the deforestation law it could not make work.
Eurobloat
2024
151 posts
Reflecting on the year 2024
Reflection on the year 2024, checking progress of the goals, and some numbers.
Journal
Eurobloat #0175 • November 2024
November 2024 saw a new Commission scrape into office on the slimmest majority in EU history, the prize for five weeks of backroom horse-trading nobody ever put to a voter.
Eurobloat
Merry Christmas
Christmas serves as an annual reminder of truth. God sent his son into the world once for all.
Christianity
Moon
We’ll find out how the shape and the orientation of the airfoil helps airplanes remain airborne. We’ll also learn about the behavior and properties of air and other flowing matter.
Gems
Voyage by ABBA
ABBA's 2021 release, melodic songs with a strong hook. It came to me long after release and earned its place.
Music
Embracing the Ecosystem
The upcoming Vapor 5 release embraces the modern Swift ecosystem by integrating key packages, with JWTKit v5 leading the way by adopting Swift 6, Swift Testing, Benchmark, and Swift Crypto, eliminating BoringSSL to improve build times and leveraging Swift Concurrency.
Development
Privacy Roundup #0220 • November 2024
November 2024 was dominated by the Salt Typhoon telecom espionage revelations, a wave of breach disclosures, and fresh fines and surveillance fights on both sides of the Atlantic.
Privacy
Monthly update #0415 • November 2024
Monthly update 415 • November 2024 • 2024-11-01 - 2024-11-30
Monthly Updates
Eurobloat #0174 • October 2024
October 2024 saw Brussels slap tariffs of up to 45% on affordable Chinese electric cars, overruling Germany and a divided bloc, and making clean vehicles dearer for the citizens it claims to serve.
Eurobloat
In Too Deep by Lee Child
In Too Deep, co-authored with Andrew Child, finds Reacher waking up amnesiac and handcuffed in Chicago, escaping to probe a mob’s artefact smuggling ring.
Books
Paddington in Peru
Paddington in Peru (2024), directed by Dougal Wilson, follows Paddington and the Brown family as they travel to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy at the Home for Retired Bears. Ben Whishaw voices Paddington, who returns to the country of his birth and discovers a mystery in the jungle.
Movies
Privacy Roundup #0219 • October 2024
October 2024 brought record fines for Big Tech, a wave of mass breaches, and fresh proof that the state and data brokers keep buying their way around warrants.
Privacy
Revolution by Skillet
Skillet's 2024 album, their first as an independent band, loud and direct with anthems built for the arena.
Music
Monthly update #0414 • October 2024
Monthly update 414 • October 2024 • 2024-10-01 - 2024-10-31
Monthly Updates
Trouble Brewing by Jul
A nationwide brewery strike has dried up the beer in New-Munchen, Dakota, so Lucky Luke travels to Milwaukee to settle a bitter dispute between union leaders and industry barons, with the Daltons stirring trouble.
Books
The Diplomat
The Diplomat is an American political thriller series. It aired on Netflix from 20 April 2023. Debora Cahn created it. Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, an American career diplomat thrust into the role of ambassador to the United Kingdom during an international crisis.
TV Series
In His Purest Form by Yanni
Yanni's 2020 release, a set of melodic instrumental pieces. I reached it late and it has stayed with me.
Music
Eurobloat #0173 • September 2024
September 2024 saw Brussels' own elder statesman report that its rules are strangling Europe, the same week its court forced €13 billion on a reluctant Ireland and a commissioner quit in fury.
Eurobloat
Three Sisters by Heather Morris
Three Sisters, chronicles the harrowing true story of Cibi, Magda, and Livia; three Slovakian sisters who pledge unwavering fidelity to one another.
Books
Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris
Cilka’s Journey, a powerful sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris, recounts the harrowing yet inspiring true story of Cilka Klein.
Books
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Based on a true story, “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris is a compelling novel that explores the themes of love and survival amidst the darkest of circumstances.
Books
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tour is a British motoring programme. It aired on Amazon Prime Video from 18 November 2016 to 13 September 2024. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May present it. The show picked up where their time on Top Gear left off.
TV Series
Monthly update #0413 • September 2024
Monthly update 413 • September 2024 • 2024-09-01 - 2024-09-30
Monthly Updates
Moon Music by Coldplay
Coldplay's 2024 album, a soft and hopeful companion to their earlier work, reaching for warmth and unity.
Music