Where we are before the market opens in the US…and heading down. The politics of vaporising pensions - 401k plans - is going to be interesting #Trumptariffs

The “speed at which they’ve operated” is down to ignoring or actively destroying laws and institutions. This is real “say what you will about Mussolini, but he made the trains run on time” territory. Very concerning that a leadership figure would consider this an appropriate thing to say in public.

Surprisingly honest and up front view from Europe…

Yes arguably more like the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact…I wonder what the secret protocols are?

Billionaires at Trump’s Swearing-In Have Since Lost $209 Billion As Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, he was flanked by some of the world’s wealthiest people. The billionaires present that day — including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — h...

It could not happen to a nicer bunch: Billionaires at Trump’s Swearing-In Have Since Lost $209 Billion
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mark Carney has just won Canada’s Liberal leadership and prime ministership with more than 85 per cent of the vote. A safe pair of hands for unsafe times #markcarney #liberals

The conservative commentator Bret Stephens in the @nytimes.com The @washingtonpost.com has, so far, very little to say

One of the most bizarre things about the Oval office shakedown was the Churchill bust in the background: Trump is Chamberlain the appeaser not Churchill the fighter. Grok image hat tip Ilia Pomorenko.

This is Winston Churchill visiting the White House during World War II.

Funny how he isn’t wearing a suit either. Almost like he was a wartime leader defending his country from being slaughtered and wiped out by an authoritarian aggressor.

BREAKING CROSSPOST: Donald Trump Was Recruited by the KGB Under Codename ‘Krasnov’ Claims Former Soviet Spy Chief Byline Times has crashed due to a DDOS attack and the original story blocked: a former senior KGB chief claims Trump was recruited by them in 1987 due to his role as a prominent US businessman

🚨BREAKING CROSSPOST AFTER DDOS ATTACK

Donald Trump Was Recruited by the KGB Under Codename ‘Krasnov’ Claims Former Soviet Spy Chief

A former senior KGB chief claims Trump was recruited by them in 1987 due to his role as a prominent US businessman

www.bylinesupplement.com/p/breaking-c...

underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.

Jeff

careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.

I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are…

Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.

I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t “hell yes,” then it had to be “no.” After…

section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else.

We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion….

Bezos note: I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:

I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.

We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.

Jeff Bezos is turning the Washington Post into yet another right-wing rag - see his x post today in the thread. Anyone who thinks the cause of “free markets” is underserved has clearly already left the planet on one of his rockets #jeffbezos #washingtonpost

America has turned on its triends Trump's abandonment of his country's allies is real and will endure Winston Churchill is credited with saying that America does the right thing after exhausting the alternatives. Donald Trump has turned that aphorism on its head. In the past 10 days, he has all but incinerated 80 years of postwar American leadership. Those who thought America was a friend or ally, notably Ukraine and Nato, are dropping once safe assumptions to cope with a world in which America is an unabashed predator. Countries that were treated by Washington as adversaries, notably Vladimir Putin's Russia, are suddenly America's friend. There were hinge moments in history when the US displayed its character as global leader, such as Dwight Eisen-hower's repudiation of Anglo-French imperialism in the 1956 Suez crisis, or Ronald Reagan's 1987 exhortation to the Soviet Union to tear down the Berlin Wall. They defined the world's idea of America. Trump's assertion this week that Ukraine "should have never started" the war is the dark version of those. His account of Russia being provoked to invade Ukraine came straight from Putin's talking points. So too was JD Vance's Valentine's Day speech in Munich in which the US vice-president identified liberal democracy as Europe's real threat from within. These moments will live in infamy. What do they tell us about what is com-ing? First, there should be no doubt that Trump's contempt for allies and admiration for strongmen is real and will endure. During his first term, Trump's instincts were curbed by the more traditional Republicans around him. Trump 2.0 is the real article. It is entirely possible that figures like Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, or Mike Waltz, his national security adviser, still believe in the US-led alliance that each once championed. Their private thoughts are irrelevant. Each displayed fealty to Trump's predatory vision of America at talks with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week. Uk…

Brilliant but devastating editorial in the Financial Times.

“In the past 10 days, he [Trump] has all but incinerated 80 years of postwar American leadership. If you are not at the table, you are on the menu. America has turned.”

While allowing the Russians to continue to use Starlink. The US has switched sides

BREAKING CROSSPOST: Donald Trump Was Recruited by the KGB Under Codename ‘Krasnov’ Claims Former Soviet Spy Chief Byline Times has crashed due to a DDOS attack and the original story blocked: a former senior KGB chief claims Trump was recruited by them in 1987 due to his role as a prominent US businessman

Trump was recruited by the KGB, according to former spy chief. Orginal story from UK publication blocked by denial of service @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social

www.bylinesupplement.com/p/breaking-c...

Does Musk have no idea that there may be public goods that need to be run for the public? This is beyond crazy

Even stopped clocks are right once every twelve hours…

Great news for Canada if Mark Carney wins the Liberal leadership on March 9th: exactly the sort of grown up, savvy leader needed to stand up to Trump.

On Ukraine, Europe must step into the void | Virgin

Europe can’t rely on the strength of the transatlantic relationship to help contain Russia’s threat – it must lead from the front and be the true force of support that Ukraine needs. Not just for Ukraine’s sake, but for a free and sovereign Europe.

I don’t believe that. Look at Alaska, on its own a third the size of the lower 48 states. And with lots of everything.

I’m afraid a lot will go to the US because energy is cheaper, and gas will be a big beneficiary.

With all the crazy stuff coming out of Trump (Greenland, Gaza, Canada, tariffs) the key is not to get distracted from the really dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional stuff…eg shutting agencies without congressional approval.

Hi yes: sadly it does not seem ti have aged…

Who will want to serve if this petty vindictiveness is what to expect? Whatever your views, the pulling of Fauci’s and John Bolton’s security detail is an appalling precedent