The theme here, totally coincidentally, is change.

Now when I say "links I like", it doesn't mean I like the content. This has been a depressing week on the politics front. The European elections earthquake saw anti-Europe, anti-immigrant candidates powering through in many countries. Not wholly surprising, but still profoundly worrying.

Extremes droites mutantes en Europe, by Jean-Yves Camus, sums up the difficulties of categorizing today's evolving radical right. It is not the national-socialism of the early 20th century. Nevertheless, it has inherited from this ideology an essentialized idea of the "people" and of "national identity", from which stem "the double hatred of the external enemy (the foreign individual or state) and the internal enemy (ethnic or religious minorities and political opponents as a whole)". However we end up defining it, it's disturbing.

On top of all this came Racism in Northern Ireland, by Ben Finch, the details of which I found nothing short of shocking.

And it's not just Europe where conservatism is turning inwards. As Andrew Jakubowicz reports about Australia, in Multiculturalism faces uncertain future in our more polarised nation: "A more 'traditionalist' group (perhaps as high as 47%) wants conservative certainties, rejecting or fearing social change. A large middle group (around a third of Australians) is open-minded about the future, but highly protective of its own lifestyles and interests. Only a 'cosmopolitan' minority (one in five) is drawn towards new opportunities while welcoming an evolving and changing world."

Also sad, but this time inspiring, Maya Angelou has died. Here are two of the things she said about change:

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."

"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."

Not sad at all, but rather very refreshing, was Edward Jeremiah's polished and highly fascinating dismissal of some prescriptive carping about change in language: Claims of misuse of 'hopefully' etc make my blood boil, literally.

Finally, this time-lapse photography beautifully captures New Zealand's always changing skies. And here's an example of our own, from Mangawhai Heads, from the days when we didn't worry whether horizons were straight. How things change.