His brother? Spared “no expense” building a state of the art theme park that ended up killing so many people (and almost killing his own grandkids) before it opened that they had to scrap the whole thing. And it was a damn good thing his granddaughter knew Unix systems (and wasn’t eaten first), or it surely would’ve killed more.

You got me at first and I almost went looking for references of David’s evil brother. TIL the actor who played the character of John Hammond in the film Jurassic Park and its sequel was David Attenborough’s elder brother.

I didn’t mean to dispute that. I just checked what you stated and posted what I found for anyone else who, like me, wasn’t up to date on this meeting. I share your assessment.

The AP reported:

The 88-year-old pope offered the Catholic vice president three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance’s three young children, who did not attend, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.

I think what @Naich@lemmings.world means is that the recent UK Supreme Court ruling gives some cover to Starmer, allowing him to pin some of the dissatisfaction with his eventual acquiescence to US pressure on the judiciary (even though Labour, being in control of the legislature, could fix the laws instead of washing their hands…).

I for one find “Genocide Don” quite catchy. The problem with this label is that the man himself and most of his supporters will likely just shrug it off as if it weren’t worth denying; it would be like calling a paid assassin a “murderer”.

If Putin’s tables are anything to go by, those Russian couches must be nice and curvy in JD’s eyes.

All that big talk about forcing countries to negotiate

Trump indeed touts tariffs as international leverage, but they’re just as much if not more of a domestic power play that forces US businesses to kiss the ring in order to get exemptions. Businesses that pledge allegiance keep their supply chains and survive, whereas those that don’t satisfy the Mango get to pay tariffs and compete with exempted businesses in a weakening consumer market with decreasing purchasing power.

World’s reserve currency. When it inevitably switches to the yuan

That’s neither inevitable nor likely at this point. China’s capital controls, ongoing devaluation of its currency and demonstrated willingness to prioritize the state over investors –at least some of which are positive things I wish we had– make Chinese assets in general and the renminbi in particular not investible to the degree necessary to achieve reserve status. The euro has better chances for now, especially if European debt is unified and becomes more liquid.

This is due to a few people in power, not because of tsunamis etc. So this can switch over in just a day.

In my view, the damage is very real and businesses will keep suffering even if Trump winds down his tariff ambitions, because the uncertainty and unpredictability hinder investment decisions. For example, if you managed an aluminium business like Alcoa, would you put up the cash to set up new smelters in the US despite melting stock prices, high borrowing costs and the possibility that the tariffs shielding those US smelters from foreign producers are reduced or even scrapped altogether without warning? Many businesses are “damned if they do, damned if they don’t”.

I’m sure there are smart plays in this market, but I’m also convinced that we’ve entered a bear phase.

I searched for German articles about this, but found none. However, the three parties expected to form the next government –the SPD, the CDU and its Bavarian sibling, the CSU– are considering to weaponize migration background against “sponsors of terror, antisemites and extremists”, which could be construed to include some peaceful critics of the Israeli government and military and their actions and plans.

Interesting to note that since 2022, he lost under 1% of his population to the war… Meat attacks could go on for years on end and it would barely move him.

If that “1% of his population” refers to the general population, I would note that the total includes many people who could never fight, such as:

• all those involved, whether directly or indirectly, in the development and production of military hardware,
• all those involved, whether directly or indirectly, in the extraction and trade of natural resources, without which the Russian economy would collapse, and
• all those physically unable to fight, such as children, the elderly and disabled people, and all those who care for them in one way or another.

As much as Putin’s tyranny may yet squeeze out of the general population, 1% in three years is already devastating, in my view.

Trudeau did adopt some of Trump’s lingo when addressing him –by his forename, as you point out–, using “big” several times and referring to some treaty they negotiated as a “deal”. He also slowed down, as if talking to someone with impaired understanding. Finally, Trudeau delivered this gem:

Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that, even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.

— starting at 10:34 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT_ePmJyIcw

It was brilliant; out in plain sight for anyone with mild linguistic skills yet too subtle for the Trump base to grasp any of it.

To my knowledge, intelligence gathering is one of the capabilities for which Ukraine and, indeed, all non-US members of NATO depend on the United States the most, and one which they can less readily ramp up than the production of military hardware and materiel. This latest move is, perhaps, an even bigger blow to a fair and durable peace than the recent suspension of US military aid.