I have to say, I am heartened to see at least some country's leaders finally pushing back against Trump robustly.

More of this, please.

I have noticed a slew of new accounts with obviously AI generated avatar images, and extremely generic bits of folksy wisdom.

I am not going to follow you if you use AI generated images.

Also, at the age of 63, I have already accumulated all the banal, folksy wisdom I require, thanks.

@CiaraNi It's just wonderful in so many ways.

@CiaraNi Wow. This is just amazing!

"We shouldn’t beat around the bush: Donald Trump’s and Benjamin Netanyahu’s military attack on Iran is an illegal act of aggression. There is no lawful justification for it. It is no different from Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine or Rwandan president Paul Kagame’s invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/01/trump-and-netanyahus-attack-on-iran-is-an-act-of-aggression

Imagine how hard, as a president, it would be to make these calls to the families of the pilots?

Can you imagine how completely unqualified Trump is to make them?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/02/us-israel-war-iran-live-updates-attacks-strikes-tehran-lebanon-beirut-hezbollah-dubai-latest-news?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-69a571fe8f0863f6a3effa9e#block-69a571fe8f0863f6a3effa9e

@Aphrodite This is so perfect! @pluralistic

@aeble

There's a flock of seagulls who are having a confab near my house. It sounds like 20 Kenneth Williams in a room.

@bibi098 So, so beautiful!

@modulux I notice in my neighbourhood that people (not all, of course, but many) really emphasise their shared commonalities. It's Ramadan now, and I would say that at least half of the Spanish people who come into my local fruit and veg shop, run by a Moroccan couple, wish them feliz Ramadan, ask about their children. Chat about food.

People are actively interested in each other's lives.

@bangskij I'm very sorry. I do recognise how lucky I am to have landed in a place where that narrative is getting real pushback.

@modulux I think that the myth of the evil outsider is such an old and strong one, it takes a lot to overcome it.

I do wonder if one of the very powerful factors down here is that slowly, after Franco's death, people became more aware and interested in the history of Moorish Andalucia and the enduring cultural influence of that time, and it allowed for a kind of shared bond?

@modulux Perhaps it is because for such a long time the economy in Andalucia was so bad, with such high unemployment, and it has improved so much - along with the influx of migrants. So while the rhetoric blaming migrants for unemployment sounds good - we're kind of living proof here that the opposite is true?

I'm not saying I don't see the occasional Vox flag, or hear the occasional anti-Islamic slur - I do. But it is both rare and very often vociferously opposed by other Spanish bystanders.

But - and this is just my own experience, in my neighbourhood. I don't know if it is reflective of a larger reality.

I'm just really grateful to be living where I do.

I live in a very working class neighbourhood, and it kind of amazed me just how diverse, welcoming and integrated it is. Not through some dictate from above, but just a real active outreaching that I notice pretty much every day.

What blows my mind most is just how clear it is that migrants have been a net positive factor in Spain. Their presence has stimulated the economy to such an extent that it has been instrumental in a consistently falling unemployment rate andgrowth in the average household income.

Why Spain and Portugal have done so well compared to other European countries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-YZeqk8NCQ

@Nickiquote @sean

Sounds good to me.