September 19, 2026

Saturday. Left at 9:52. Blacksmith. Mostly overcast, stiff southwesterly breeze, fairly mild--long sleeves not really required. De Bilt and around Zeist toward Woudenberg, but closure at Quatre Bras, so Treek to Amersfoort and Hugo de Grootlaan. Soesterweg not fully open yet, but improved. A.P. Hilhorstweg quiet. Corn mostly down, wildflowers remaining. Soest tower in the distance apparently scaffolded. Baarn and across the tracks at the Torenweg. Eventually Noorderweg to Soestdijk. Past the palace, then left toward Lage Vuursche. Fewer cars than feared. Another detour in Maartensdijk. Tweesporenpad into the wind with the Dom up ahead. Blauwkapel and Singel to Møs and the AD. It's not the go-to place for international news. They are searching for a new editor-in-chief, who should try to do a little more. As the non-tendentious mainstream daily, there's an opportunity to help people who aren't naturally inclined to think much or hard about the wider world about its relevance for daily life over here. In the news the new agreement between the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark, touted by Washington as a great accomplishment. In reality, it may not amount to anything more than what existed during the Cold War, and thus would be the latest example of how the administration time and again manages to waste a lot of time, energy, and goodwill to accomplish next to nothing. The president's signing of the new bill sanctioning those still doing business with Russia is a little better in that regard (but also not an administration initiative). Still, the real test is if Russia's greatest supporter in its war on Ukraine, China, will be targeted by the administration. The AD did have a background story on the upcoming meeting between the president and the Chinese leader, although this issue didn't come up. But it's unlikely that Washington will try to punish China for doing deals with Russia where its own diplomacy toward Moscow has the exact same goal, not counting all the other ways in which the American president shows himself to be unserious about confronting his Russian colleague.