Raider of the lost Ark

^ I suppose Donald Trump just helped Zohran to become Mayor of New York. I think it is so funny and somehow sad, that this 79 year old man still tries make an impression on New York City, in particular Manhattan. He considers this this biggest failure of his life, it is want he wanted the most. Referring to that famous saying, he never made it in New York. But New York just keep rejecting him because they can see right through him. They see the con man, he is. They see someone constantly bragging about big and beautiful things. Yet in New York, he never built big and all of his buildings are the opposite of beautiful. Beautiful may be in the eyes of the beholder but the architecture and design is just bad. Everyone who has ever been inside Trump Tower knows what I'm talking about. Or take a look at the new oval office. "Nouveau Riche" comes to mind. If that was an 80s movie, it would be funny. New York City, keep rejecting him!

The thing is, this politician is clearly not reading the room. My impression is, the overwhelming majority of Germans absolutely accepts that a State of Israel has a right to exist. There is no discussion, no one will question it, and correctly so. That said, the times when discussions about the actions of the Israeli government were not publicly held are long over. The label of being "antisemite" for merely criticizing the situation in Gaza or other occupied territories simply does not fly anymore. In fact anyone making this claim in this context is doing a disservice to Israel. At this point it is vital to have an open and honest discussion about Israel and most above all its government. The fact that certain people in Israel and in Germany try to suppress such discussion with reference to the Holocaust is intellectually dishonest. Maybe, just maybe, Germany in particular should be part of the discussion about current and ongoing events in the region, if only to prevent Israel from making the same mistakes as Germany. Unfortunately, it seems there are forces in Israel that only want the German weapons and other military support but want no further involvement, especially no diplomacy. Which is really frustrating because what happened tonight could have been prevented. There was a nuclear agreement with Iran in 2015, which as far as I remember was negotiated under the leadership of Germany. But as we all know, Trump came into office, didn't like the deal, although not even knowing about the matter (which is a general problem with him, he seems to have no knowledge about any issues, whether this is foreign affairs or U.S. politics) and look where we are. On this particular issue, the U.S. and Israel should not look for support from allies. This situation now is solely on them.

You realize that the U.S. have made it very clear that they do not plan for a regime change in Iran? Also, while the majority of people in Iran are very critical of the regime, they are not exactly fans of the U.S.. In fact, the current act of agression will strenghten the regime internally. And when it comes to those Iranians abroad celebrating the attack and looking for a chance of a regime change, many of them are not even Iranian refugees. They were born in the U.S. or in the West. They are the descendants of people that left Iran not neccessarily for poltical reasons. I would like to argue, the majority left for economic reasons. But of course, this is not as exciting as to pretend to be part of the resistance. Those people are living their lives comfortably without fear of consequence. The real refugees, those who had to flee because of their political opposition to the regime, will not run around celebrating, because they know such behaviour may put other people, in Iran, in danger. It will make the situation for the opposition worse. Also, the treatment of women and minorities in countries in the middle East is a slippery slope. They all are living in rather dark times. But the truth is, the situation of women in Arab countries, so called allies of the U.S., is arguably worse than for women in Iran. While the shah did some minor progressive things, like giving women certain rights, lets not pretend Iran/Persia was a liberal society, his reign was still authoritarian, he was a dictator, freedom of press or opinion and other rights were non-existent. And again something the U.S. always seem to ignore: they are not liked in the region. Not liked before the revolution, not after, not now. Why? As everyone should know by now, the U.S. are in it only for themselves.

Talking of a new European military alliance. This alliance should not have Mark Rutte in a leading position. I don't remember how he was as Dutch prime minister. But with my understanding that Dutch people are in general very nice people, he is giving me very negative vibes. He comes across as a Donald Trumps mouthpiece more than anything and I think for the position he is in, even the slightest impression of favor towards a single country in an alliance should be prevented. He was voted in to balance the interests of all of its members but it seems as if NATO is merely there to provide security to the U.S. in case there is a military conflict. And we all now, the only country ever making use of NATO forces was the U.S. I am sick and tired of the narrative the U.S. is protecting other countries.

Is this going to be the next Iraq? I remember very well the pictures of Bush, jr. celebrating "Mission accomplished" days after the invasion. Decades later, one would question what has been accomplished and at what cost. What people remember is that this war was based on lies. The fact that the U.S. did bomb Iran was actually not surprising, I would like to believe that most people were expecting it at some point. Not neccessarily because there was the necessity but because the U.S. and especially Israel wanted it and they had the capabilities. Talking about capabilities, the situation is comparable to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The U.S. spent insane amounts of money on new weapons. At some point those weapons need to be tested in real life. My understanding is, those "bunker busters" were not used in action before. Also, the U.S. and Israel have made it very clear, once more, that they are not interested in diplomacy and negotiations. Especially not in efforts by European countries. The question for European countries is now, why do we care or offer help to countries that have no interest in our help to find a solution peacefully, yet expect support when it comes to military action. I wonder if there is a line to be crossed where European countries will finally reject support to Israel and the U.S.? Back in the day, the lies told about the WMDs in Iraq, where the line for countries like France and Germany. It becomes more and more clear that the U.S. is not a reliable partner, and maybe never really was. Europe, especially the EU, can't help but form its own kind of defense alliance. An alliance that does not include the U.S., especially not weapons. The U.S. will be on their own. But I suppose this is what certain circles in the U.S. are looking forward to anyway. It is a very arrogant perspective and let's face it, this arrogance is only borne out of the privileged geographical location of the U.S., an isolated location far away from enemies. I dare to say, if the U.S. were located in Europe, they would not act in the warmongering ways they have in the last 80 years because U.S. citizens would have experienced what real human loss and suffering looks like. Europe has made the experience and at some point (end of WWII) realized that wars are not the solution to anything.

And that's in a country that hardly has any public holidays. Compare that with countries in Europe. But this is a slippery slope because next you will need to talk about vacation time. The concept that people need to recreate to upload their batteries, so speak, to be productive again, appears to be foreign to US politicians and business owners. The same with illness. How stupid are they? Or simply mean? But it's part of US exceptionalism, I guess. But isn't it strange that none of this is a problem for companies in Europe or other developed regions across the World.

When I talk about orthodox jews, I refer to the settlers most above all. Those are the worst. And most of them are not "real" Israelis, not born in Israel. Many of them come from the former Soviet Union, where they were allegedly persecuted because of their religious beliefs. Well, they were persecuted the same way, as so called Russlanddeutsche (Russian Germans) that came to Germany in the early nineties. Religious reasons, my ass. They came for economic reasons. And many had no German heritage. People were making jokes that they may have had a German shepherd at some point. In Germany they made extensive use of the social net. In Israel they steal land. And how did they prove they are jewish? And make no mistake, when shit hits the fan, their allegiance is with Russia. The very same country they fled because of alleged persecution. If this was a Hollywood movie, one could think all those people are just sleepers to be activated by Russia when the time is right.

Netanyahu will end in prison at some point. He is no better than the Ayatollahs in Iran. He is a warmongerer. Has always been.

This is some f*cked up situation. How do you prevent a war if all parties involved seem to want this war? Iran, Israel, the USA. Unfunny fact: it's their governments only. The majority of the citizens of those countries do not want this. Of course, you have the religious nutjobs, the orthodox jews, the Ayatollahs and the U.S. evangelicals like that crazy Mike Huckabee. Iranians would like to get rid of the regime. Israelis would prefer the Netanyahu government to step down. And wasn't Trump the president with no wars?

I am convinced the U.S. will drop bombs on Iran within the next few days. All the rethoric sounds way to familiar to what went down with Iraq. Iraq supposedly had WMDs, all lies of course and quite a few people from intelligence circles warned, the "evidence" provided by the U.S. is false. Now Iran is supposedly days away from having a nucelar weapon and again people with knowledge about the matter deny this. Even f*cking Tulsi Gabbard said so some weeks ago.

No one ever asked the US to go there in the first place. The US wanted to go there, even lied about WMD to invade a country. If you want to recoup some of that money (which is nowhere near 8 trillion, but that's Trump, exaggerating as always), call all those oil companies, that private security firms, that arms manufacturers that made billions and billions in profits. Let's call it what it is. All wars fought by the US after WW2 were stimulus programmes for above mentioned industries, subsidized by U.S. tax payers. It was merely another way to transfer wealth from the poor and middle class to the already very rich people.

"... a deal, I told them to sign ..." The audacity to speak like that. Who does he think he is, to tell other countries what they are supposed to do. Well, it has been U.S. doctrine ever since the end of WW2. But there is a tremendous loss of reputation because of Trump and MAGA (not that it has ever had a great reputation anyway). At this point the U.S. must be the most hated country on the planet. And regarding the deal. There was a deal, negotiated by other countries, which was perfectly fine, where Iran agreed to not persue the development of nuclear weapons, with heavy inspections by the IAEA implemented. When Trump came into office the first time, he did not like the deal for the mere reason he didn't do it and could not brag about it and in result the deal was never finalised. Years of wasted time by everyone involved. And it did not make the region safer. The contrary is true. A talking of deals. Is there actually any great deal he has made recently? I can't think of anything. Trump being the a big deal maker is the biggest nonsense ever.

The damage is done. It was not only MAGA. It was his Nazi Heil, support for the right wing AfD and so on. And he has only himself to blame. That Teslas are not best cars doesn't help either. From my view Tesla will go out of business, it is just a question of time. It is one of the most overvalued companies. And this point I don't know how Tesla is even making profit. They sold a little more than 5000 in May in all the EU. I guess, selling CO2 certificates keeps them afloat.

Trump is in the Epstein files? What's next? Telling us that Trump is a Russian asset? Tell us something we did not know already!

And where are the Democrats? The true desaster is that from this side of the political spectrum (and unfortunately there is no other in the U.S.), no one seems to be willing to fight. Chuck Shumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Absolutely useless. They are wondering why the democrats have lower ratings on polls than Trump and MAGA despite their actions to destroy the United States. But when you watch them on TV and how they present themselves, you can't help to think of them as losers. In Germany we call people like them Waschlappen. And where are the people, where are the demonstrations? If a French or German government (please insert further EU countries) was trying to take rights away from citizens or to destroy parts of social programs, there would be a million people on the streets in Paris or Berlin until the government caves in. The point is, a government has to be afraid of its people to act in the interest of people and take measures to guarantee the well-being of its people. Obviously, the U.S. government is not afraid, so they do what they do, and why not when there is no serious political opposition and citizens are reluctant to make their voices heard. My suspicion is that Democrats wait things out until 2026 for Midterms to take over Congress to regain some political power. The problem: this "success" is based on the other partys actions or inactions. This is not a proper victory. And what about all the damage done until 2026. This is a much more imminent problem, that needs to be adressed now.

It's part of the conspiracy that Joe Biden has severe dementia and did not know what he is doing, the country was governed by his handlers. MAGA claims the autopen was used to sign the pardons at the end of Bidens term and therefore those not be valid / illegal / unconstitutional because they were never properly "signed" or signed by the president. First, it is not really clear if autopen was actually used and secondly it is ignoring the fact that autopen is around and used for ages and the chance that Trump has one as well is very high. Funny enough, the only one who doesn't know what he is signing is Donald Trump. Just watch when he is signing his Executive Orders, he is basically always asking "what is this ..." and then some person, usually that weird looking male secretary (or whatever his position is), is going to explain. Rather unsuccessfully because Trump has an attention span of 5 seconds. Which is also the reason why he basically pardoned all January, 6th criminals. Even the ones that beat up cops. Technically he has to look up each case. Since he was too tired or simply couldn't be bothered, he pardoned them all, despite the fact he told his voters he is so pro police. So, the whole Biden autopen thing is merely another distraction from the things the Trump administration is doing.

I always have to shake my head about that trade deficit because it is very clear to everyone who knows a little bit on the matter that digital services are not included in the equasion and that U.S. companies almost have a monopoly on those things. If they would add those revenues, as they should in this day and age, the deficit all of a sudden is miniscule. Talking of U.S. digital companies, I think the EU should finally impose proper taxes and huge fines on them. The usual suspects will run to Trump to tell him to stop his nonsense because they cannot stop their services within the U.S. without bankrupting their companies. Also, the EU and countries like Germany, France, Italy etc. should "invite" the CEOs of U.S. arms and weapons producers for a meeting and remind them how the EU subsidizes hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. and is responsible for many billions of profits for shareholders. Contracts might be cancelled. (I doubt there will be future contracts for U.S. companies thanks to Trumps anti-allyship. The hundreds of billions of investments in military will go exclusively to EU companies and true allies.)

Let me guess, Trump or his offspring were rejected by Harvard.

Sorry, it's all bullshit. It's in the same league as "thoughts and prayers". It doesn't mean anything. Trump has said the most evil stuff about Biden for ages, he merely posted it because he had too or it is expected. If he kept quiet, it would have at least shown some consistency. There really is something the U.S. are "best" at: being fake.

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.