Raider of the lost Ark

As far as I understand, he is a man of the middle. The name he chose, Leo XIV, is a sign that he intends to be socially consious. The cardinal that was preferred by Trump did not win.

The stupidity is on a whole different level. I bet every person working in city or regional marketing in the U.S. was dying inside. The tourism industry is already under pressure and it will get only worse, despite the fact that travelling to the U.S. became much cheaper because the US dollar lost value compared to the EUR. Vance did a huge disservice to his country. The correct thing would have been to campaign for visitors to actually stay longer and visit other parts of the U.S. as well, spending more money the the U.S. I'm not sure, he knows that people travelling to such events to foreign countries are usually people with a nice budget because tickets alone are rather expensive. And why does people like him believe everyone wants to come or even stay in the U.S.? This exceptionalism alone is off putting to most people. The U.S.A. the greatest, the best country in the world? Someone please tell him it's not 1950 anymore. And even back then it was not great for a large amount of people.

Well done Australia! Just as in Canada, common sense has prevailed. Great news in times when basically all information coming from the USA at the moment is bad. It appears, that Trump & Co. is isolating the USA. It feels good to know that basically the rest of the world stands against this maniac and his sycophants. It gives a feeling of safety to know that the EU, Canada, Australia, Japan (and certainly more countries) are on the same page when it comes to fight the current agression of the Trump administration.

There is a cabinet meeting right now and it is the most ridiculous thing ever. Their vocabulary is 5th grade level, none of them provides any specifics. What they say makes no sense at all and they are clearly making things up. Everything they have done and do is so great, the best ever. For all the shit they caused, they blame Biden. I am amazed how the U.S. populace thinks any of this is acceptable behaviour. If there was any government presenting itself in such an embarrasing way in Europe, the people there would have already put them out of work. Imagine this was a corporate environment, employees presenting their company to the outside, the way Trump an Co. is doing. They would be out of work for the damage done.

I have just seen a report from the Shanghai motor show. Based on the cars shown there, Tesla is done. Teslas current models have nothing to offer, that other cars offer as well and more often even much better. Better engineering, much better design. And as Ulizos said, Tesla is now known as the Swasticar, the Tesla SS, it all comes down to this megalomaniac that Musk is. And people and companies simply do not want to be associated with him. He has become persona non grata basically.

Is CNN growing some balls? They had a segment about Trump and Melania visiting the pope back in 2017 (?). Melania adressing the pope as "Your highness". Of course, we already knew she is not really bright.

Events like this are so fascinating. Like weddings, coronations and death/funerals of royals this is almost unreal, somehow alien to "normal" people. It really happens, but it's like watching a movie or a history documentary because much of this is based on traditions many centuries old. Obviously, the fact that the locations (castles, churches, The Vatican) are just as old and are fabulous works of architecture and other arts very much add to the illusion. Which is weird because I have been to Rome, visited The Vatican Museums, was inside St. Peters and Sistine Chapel.

I am not sure, Trump knows who he is dealing with China. What if China simply decides to block all export to the U.S. in response to those tarrifs? This will disrupt the economy of the U.S. big time and it will hurt American workers and consumers. They will be forced to buy American again and get a feeling what it means to buy American. It's so much more expensive. That said, it's not even clear you can get an American alternative. Of course, it will hurt China as well, but China does not think in a timespan of 3 days like Trump, they think of what will be in 5 or 10 years.

If this was France, the guillotine would be back on the Place de la République already.

He is really making friends worldwide. Not. I would like to believe that basically everyone who has money invested in stock (in one way or the other) has seen the value of this investment plummet significantly in the last two days. I think the SEC should look very closely who sold large chunks of stock (at still high prices) some days ago and who starts buying now (at much lower prices). I wouldn't be surprised if it happens to be the same people. Rich people getting even richer by playing the system. BUT the SEC will not care because it is run now by a Trump appointee. The fix is in and as almost always with Trump, it has no consequence. Trump wants "phenomenal" offers in regards to discussing tariffs, I want my country and the EU to tell him and his bunch of assholes to fuck off. I want retaliation and I want all the tech bros who were sitting in 2nd row at the inauguration to suffer first. It's very easy actually, fine the hell out of them. Tens of billions. Not dealing with European privacy laws properly should no longer be an incidental matter. The EU has been way too patient with their behavior for way too long.

What an idiotic move. Those tariffs are not helpful to any side. The idea to bring production to the US is nonsense as well. What kind of production is that supposed to be? I have to assume textile industry? Look at the countries with the highest tariffs. Vietnam, Bangladesh. They produce those cheap clothing. The production costs there are so low, even a 100% tariff wouldn't move production to the US with its high labor costs, even in third world states like Mississippi. No to mention the initial investment needed to open a factory. It will cost US consumers dearly. It may help the US budget but on the other hand, those tariffs may merely finance the tax cuts to the rich. And here is the solution for the EU as counter measure: Implement a hefty digital tax. This will hurt the very likes that supported Trump openly. Zuckerberg, Musk, Bezos ... What is the saying? You get, what you pay for. Well, they paid for Trump, now it is going to be expensive. And talking of expensive, there are some pesky little privacy laws in the EU in place. The EU or its member states have been way too reluctant to use them and fine the hell out of social media giants. I cannot wait to see little baby Zuckerberg running to Trump crying how unfairly he is treated because of his cesspool that is Facebook, sorry Meta.

The delusions of politicians and Fox anchors in the U.S. are downright shocking and disgusting. They think they were ""being nice" to other countries when all things they were doing ever since the end of WWII was in the sole interest of the U.S.. It was about influence and access to foreign markets to expand militarily and economically. People tend to forget that the rise of the U.S. to the most powerful and wealthy country only started with the end of WWII. Before that, the U.S. were hardly more powerful than the UK and Germany. In fact, socio-economically Germany was light years ahead of the U.S., keep in mind the foundations of universal heathcare and other social programmes go back almost 150 years, surviving two world wars and probably the worst inflation the world has ever seen. (And still the U.S. in 2025 believes universal healthcare is unsustainable). Anyway, those people believe they don't need "friends", well I use that term lightly, "customer" might be the correct term, I am not sure they really want to find out the consequence of being alone out there, in a world that has no appreciation for the current U.S. government, in a world where there are quite a few countries and organizations that downright hate the U.S. and its people, that still have an axe to grind. No friends, no allies means no access to foreign intelligence. I wonder how many terrorist attacks on the U.S. have been stopped because of prior information from allied intelligence agencies? An attack on U.S. ground may be inevitable at some point. But I am sure they U.S. government will find ways to spin such event to their advantage. No consequence for their very own doing. They will blame everyone else and will use it to dismantle the U.S. even further. The people of the U.S. can say goodbye to the freedoms they allegedly have, that protect them from their government. At this moment, the similarities to 1933 Germany are too obvious. Just wait, give it a few months and the U.S. will get its very own "Ermächtigungsgesetz". People need to wake up quickly.

Fun fact: The ID thing to vote is very much how it is done almost everywhere. The U.S. in its belief to be so outstanding and because of freedom (blah, blah, blah) think it is a good idea to have elections that appear highly disorganized from a European point of view. In Germany all citizens are officialy registred with a home adress. In result all citizens eligible to vote get an invitation to vote by mail automatically with all the information when to vote and where your voting office is. Also how to vote by mail, if neccessary. To cast your vote you have to show your ID or your passport. It is really not that difficult. And I personally have never heard of accusations of voter fraud. It all comes down to a general requirement to register your home adress. Something the U.S. does not have. Again ... freedom.

THIS !