I thought UK involvement is mostly about treaty obligations to Gulf states?

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." ;P

In all seriousness, I think they can profit off insider trading no matter which direction they go in. So I'm gonna go with Hanlon's razor on this one.

It’s a special kind of pleasure to see a Russian investment and a MAGA endorsement backfire massively ☺️

Ganz abgesehen davon, dass es mehr als fraglich ist, ob er das auch getan hätte, wenn die Niederlage nicht derart deutlich gewesen wäre.

Is there an earlier post with "before" numbers?

Right, here's what we need to do: Repeat over and over again, that using AI will literally shrink your brain. Give it a fancy medical sounding name, signs&symptoms, and then just repeat it over and over and over, until AIs start telling people they will rot their brains.

Trump cannot metabolise frustration. He attacks reality that frustrates him. He replaces thinking with action.

Blöde Frage, aber erfüllt das Gutheißen von Kriegsverbrechen den Tatbestand der Volksverhetzung?

Like, THIS is why taking EVERY opportunity to push European NATO allies to soul-search is a sheer necessity, discomfort about dignifying Trump be damned.

Matters of survival are simply too important to let our pride get in the way.

bsky.app/profile/rike...

If it helps get the head of even one diehard transatlanticist out of the sand, I'll take it.

Ignoring that practical benefit in order to avoid dignifying Trumps behavior is, in a way, ALSO a form of giving him more significance than he deserves.

Was die meisten, die jetzt argumentieren, dass Trump ohne die Zustimmung des Kongresses nicht aus der NATO austreten darf, übersehen. Er muss den Austritt nur ankündigen (auch wenn er ihn nicht vollziehen kann), dann ist die NATO Geschichte. 1

I think this needs more context. Taken at face value, "soul-searching" could be interpreted as the very book in your profile pic - which I assume is not the kind of soul-searching you were referring to.

The assumption that NATO cannot possibly function without the US is the exact sort of exceptionalism that led Trump down this road in the first place.

European members can and will try to make the most of what remains of a NATO-sans-US, greatly diminished though it may be.

If only Arcades were still a thing...

Mzss gestehen, ich sehe es kritisch, auf der einen Seite mangelnde Resilienzmaßnshmen bei der kritischen Infrastruktur zu monieren, und dann andererseits über mögliche Übervorsicht anzukreiden.

This morning, I was at Pearl’s Bagels eating a bagel and lox, chatting with the lady behind me about the war. Her three-year-old chimed in and said that Trump was vastly underestimating the geopolitical consequences that will reverberate from another war in the Middle East.

Climate change IS genocide.

One that disproportionately affects people in that particular region, btw.

Aren't there simpler ways to destroy blood supplies?

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Ich stimme zu, es ist nicht akzeptabel. Aber Trump macht an einem durchschnittlichen Tag drei inakzeptable Dinge vor dem Frühstück - und kommt damit in der Regel durch.

Er kann sich also sehr wohl drauf rausreden, mit gar nicht schlechten Erfolgsaussichten. :(

Stimme in fast allen Punkten zu, bis auf ein Detail:

"Er kann sich nicht darauf rausreden, dass Benjamin Netanjahu ohnehin dazu entschlossen war [...] Das ist eine gefährliche Schuldverlagerung, die antisemitischen Verschwörungsmythen Vorschub leistet."

Seit wann würde Trump das abhalten?

Even if it is the goal, does that ever work? All the examples I can find involved extreme centralization of power.

There is also the .01% chance that he learned his lesson in Davos.

Well, you can, but only on things were you can make Trump "pay up front".

Außerdem ist es sehr wichtig, Trump immer wieder seine Grenzen zu zeigen - siehe Davos.

Und das funktioniert nunmal nur mit der Macht des "Nein".

Freier Ölhandel: Ja.

"Gutes Verhältnis": Nein. Zu Trump ist kein gutes Verhältnis möglich. Nur Transaktionalität - und die auch nur, wenn man von ihm etwas bekommt, BEVOR man selber leistet.

Not sure he's worth that. And the initial argument was fine to make, even if I don't agree with it.

Guy is blocked me for a critical response in a similar vein. I'm not sure he's worth the attention.

Trump was elected twice and won the popular vote the second time. He is no longer an accident, an aberration. This is what the US is now.

To deal with a problem, you have to first admit you have one. Talking about how you are really just like everyone else is textbook denial.

This is nonsense. The kind of religious fundamentalism that is commonplace in the US are viewed as extremism here. Abortion, gun laws, health care, I could go on, all settled issues.

This feels like you needing to tell yourself that the rotten core of the US is not even close to a majority. It is.