The EU just gave Ukraine $105 Billion (in Euros, of course, but we know dollars better) as a LOAN, if you can believe such a thing. This is like a perpetual beggar coming into a bank without any collateral or way of paying off the loan and the bank forking over the money anyway. $105B would have helped a lot of Europeans with energy costs, but it was just forked over to the most corrupt European country, where some of it will no doubt end up in offshore banks. This is not counting all the making of military gear to hold off the Russian invasion /sar. This too is useless and a huge waste which will never be recouped.
Not that our fearless Emperor is any smarter than the European leadership. He has managed to let his ego and his Zionism to ignore our national intelligence and rush off to be Netanyahu's junior partner in attempting to destroy Iran. Hard to believe no one in Washington saw the Strait being blocked, but now Emperor Donald either has to start war afresh again or move out and call it a day. If this unconstitutional war did not cause so much pain to Americans, it would be funny to watch this egomaniac try to come up with a solution to the mess of his own making. If we had a Congress worthy of the name instead of rows of puppets, there would be an Impeachment happening after they demanded all troops in the Middle East home. Of course, this is just dreaming. Is it just me or is Putin one of the smartest leaders in the world today? Of course, Trump takes no advice but his own.
As for gasoline prices, I paid $3.69 for regular today, but that also included a 10 cent reward, so the advertised price was $3.79. This was for Marathon, a Top Tier gasoline in lower central Virginia. I am fortunate, because near where I work, gasoline seems cheaper than other areas anywhere close. Thanks for all your do, Lena.
The hilarious thing about being called an anti-Semite is a meaningless term. Why? Because Semite, from the Merriam Webster dictionary website is as follows:
1:
a: a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs
b: a descendant of these peoples
2: a member of a modern people speaking a Semitic language
By this definition, an anti-Semite would be someone who even insults an Arab. Naturally, this is not how it is used, but you see how language is twisted to suit the purposes for which they wish to use it.
If you actually care one iota for Trump, after he clearly violated the Constitution by not having Congress declare war and instead went to war for Israel. If Hegseth had half a brain, he would have told Trump, "No troops are going to war until Congress declares war." They all swear to uphold the Constitution, but I suspect Hegseth has never read it.
Don't trot out the War Powers Act as no law can supersede the Constitution. Your Trump has now certainly guaranteed a US recession and probably depressions in some countries. If there were justice, his bank account would be emptied to help pay for this war and he would be impeached and imprisoned thereafter. If this is TDS in your simple book, so be it.
We're watching the EU come apart in slow motion. Germany is on life support with no one to help. Once Germany goes under, Austria and Poland will follow. Then the rest will collapse. The eastern bloc countries will quickly side with the Russian Federation out of desperation and that will be that. No more EU. Once the EU fails, Britain will become a failed state and like dominoes, they will all fall down. Meanwhile, the U.S. is failing, they just aren't admitting it yet. Once Trump is gone, it will all come out in the congressional hearings.
The world is heading for a major reset that will cause a lot of chaos and starvation within the next ten to fifteen years. Just wait.
Wouldn't top European power players and leaders have prepared for this such as being aware that, say, flying Lufthansa would involve more "carpooling" or better put "planepooling?" Europe is not the super unequal uber-capitalist society that the US; they do have socialist or socialist-leaning elements in their societies. This is a good thing, but more to the point is that the power players and such would psychologically, so to speak, be more comfortable operating in a modality such as alternative transport and so on.
Of course, it doesn't help when a country like Great Britain has a bias against Russia(and with no conflict to boot), and yes and if they and the rest of Europe were willing to buy Russian gas, economically they would do much better but their biases and egos(in the case of Britain that can very easily include academic egos) got the better of them. If there is an upswing it is what George Monbiot is referring to in his article in that alternative forms of energy are now more up for purchase. But that too takes fossil fuels. Everything in the modern world requires fossil fuels too to at least a limited extent. We'll see how Europe does.
Great article, Lena. One is hard-pressed to feel sympathy for either Europe or the United States, as the current and future pain was self-inflicted.
The EU just gave Ukraine $105 Billion (in Euros, of course, but we know dollars better) as a LOAN, if you can believe such a thing. This is like a perpetual beggar coming into a bank without any collateral or way of paying off the loan and the bank forking over the money anyway. $105B would have helped a lot of Europeans with energy costs, but it was just forked over to the most corrupt European country, where some of it will no doubt end up in offshore banks. This is not counting all the making of military gear to hold off the Russian invasion /sar. This too is useless and a huge waste which will never be recouped.
Not that our fearless Emperor is any smarter than the European leadership. He has managed to let his ego and his Zionism to ignore our national intelligence and rush off to be Netanyahu's junior partner in attempting to destroy Iran. Hard to believe no one in Washington saw the Strait being blocked, but now Emperor Donald either has to start war afresh again or move out and call it a day. If this unconstitutional war did not cause so much pain to Americans, it would be funny to watch this egomaniac try to come up with a solution to the mess of his own making. If we had a Congress worthy of the name instead of rows of puppets, there would be an Impeachment happening after they demanded all troops in the Middle East home. Of course, this is just dreaming. Is it just me or is Putin one of the smartest leaders in the world today? Of course, Trump takes no advice but his own.
As for gasoline prices, I paid $3.69 for regular today, but that also included a 10 cent reward, so the advertised price was $3.79. This was for Marathon, a Top Tier gasoline in lower central Virginia. I am fortunate, because near where I work, gasoline seems cheaper than other areas anywhere close. Thanks for all your do, Lena.
Thank Trumptanyahu
The hugely failed “transition” to green energy is a massive foreseeable error, well before the Iran war. Your TDS is tainting your reporting.
"Your TDS is tainting your reporting."
That meme has outlived its insult value, much as the terms racist or anti-semite.
Trump's words and actions have removed any doubt that he is an extremely flawed person.
The hilarious thing about being called an anti-Semite is a meaningless term. Why? Because Semite, from the Merriam Webster dictionary website is as follows:
1:
a: a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs
b: a descendant of these peoples
2: a member of a modern people speaking a Semitic language
By this definition, an anti-Semite would be someone who even insults an Arab. Naturally, this is not how it is used, but you see how language is twisted to suit the purposes for which they wish to use it.
If you actually care one iota for Trump, after he clearly violated the Constitution by not having Congress declare war and instead went to war for Israel. If Hegseth had half a brain, he would have told Trump, "No troops are going to war until Congress declares war." They all swear to uphold the Constitution, but I suspect Hegseth has never read it.
Don't trot out the War Powers Act as no law can supersede the Constitution. Your Trump has now certainly guaranteed a US recession and probably depressions in some countries. If there were justice, his bank account would be emptied to help pay for this war and he would be impeached and imprisoned thereafter. If this is TDS in your simple book, so be it.
We're watching the EU come apart in slow motion. Germany is on life support with no one to help. Once Germany goes under, Austria and Poland will follow. Then the rest will collapse. The eastern bloc countries will quickly side with the Russian Federation out of desperation and that will be that. No more EU. Once the EU fails, Britain will become a failed state and like dominoes, they will all fall down. Meanwhile, the U.S. is failing, they just aren't admitting it yet. Once Trump is gone, it will all come out in the congressional hearings.
The world is heading for a major reset that will cause a lot of chaos and starvation within the next ten to fifteen years. Just wait.
Thanks Lena! Here's a reference article: https://www.monbiot.com/2026/04/21/self-burn/ .
Wouldn't top European power players and leaders have prepared for this such as being aware that, say, flying Lufthansa would involve more "carpooling" or better put "planepooling?" Europe is not the super unequal uber-capitalist society that the US; they do have socialist or socialist-leaning elements in their societies. This is a good thing, but more to the point is that the power players and such would psychologically, so to speak, be more comfortable operating in a modality such as alternative transport and so on.
Of course, it doesn't help when a country like Great Britain has a bias against Russia(and with no conflict to boot), and yes and if they and the rest of Europe were willing to buy Russian gas, economically they would do much better but their biases and egos(in the case of Britain that can very easily include academic egos) got the better of them. If there is an upswing it is what George Monbiot is referring to in his article in that alternative forms of energy are now more up for purchase. But that too takes fossil fuels. Everything in the modern world requires fossil fuels too to at least a limited extent. We'll see how Europe does.