Do you think Trump actually wants to conquer Canada and produce a North American empire including Canada and Greenland?
It does appear that he's looking at Putin's efforts in Ukraine and by some perverse thought process thinking that the way to be a great leader is to expand one's country's territory too.
WTF is going on? I know Trump, Musk et al are bonkers, but what are they trying to do?
It all seems very odd indeed on this side of the Pond.
It's hard to tell whether this is ineptitude or deliberately sowing chaos so that the federal government is forced to retrench and limit its activities.
Musk’s attitude to governance (as opposed to any specific political aim) reminds me of Dominic Cummings - I think he or someone summarised it as “move fast & break things”.
It may also be stupid. I don’t know enough about US Public Sector legal entitlenments but it may be that a lot of costly superannuation entitlements would not be affected by accepting the resignation payout. Also in the UK I’ve seen such actions followed by effective re-employment as private consultants because people’s experience and expertise cannot afford to be lost.
Musk’s attitude to governance (as opposed to any specific political aim) reminds me of Dominic Cummings - I think he or someone summarised it as “move fast & break things”.
"Move fast and break things" was the internal motto for Facebook. It was supposed to express an attitude to product development that prioritised rapid innovation, trying out lots of different ideas most of which will fail but out of which the next big product would likely come. Whether it leads to the development of good new products more rapidly than other approaches is open to debate, but when the things that get broken are just ideas it doesn't matter much. But, applying the same approach to government where failed ideas means people in need are failed is evil.
Musk’s attitude to governance (as opposed to any specific political aim) reminds me of Dominic Cummings - I think he or someone summarised it as “move fast & break things”.
A friend of mine who is a professor of politics opined that you can see a lot of what Musk intends to do with the government by looking at what he did to Twitter.
I wonder whose fault it will be when hurricanes destroy his beloved Mar-A-Lago?
The Air Force. They have the capability of nuking hurricanes, don't ya know?
A hurricane yields five orders of magnitude more energy than a middling hydrogen bomb.
That may be true but I’m betting the US has some very big nuclear bombs
Riiiiiight. The Tsar Bomba was 60 mt. A middling H-bomb is around a megaton. So a thousand average H-bombs = 1 middling hurricane. The US can do, oooh, 3-5 of those.
I think the USA produced (without testing?) an H Bonb with a yield of 25 megatons. The largest one which I know was tested was the Castle Bravo bomb, which produced a huge crater (a mile across) a fireball at least three times as big and radiation fallout which was dangerous over 100 miles away. I’ve got no idea how many big bombs went into production. The raw data are absolutely terrifying.
And giving a hurricane a kick in the eye would affect it how?
Who knows? Well, I suppose the Doctor might, with access to hindsight.
Weather systems are difficult to predict with any certainty. Normal system are predictable enough to give decently reliable forecasts 4-5 days in advance. Storm systems are harder to predict, and frequently deviate in path and intensity from forecasts that are only a couple of days old. When the "normal" development of a storm is only approximately predictable beyond a few days, the impact of an extra-ordinary event such as detonating a bomb in the storm is even less predictable.
What is well known and understood is that by far the best way to reduce the power of a tropical storm is to cool the water in the seas it develops over. Which in practice means slowing and then reversing the increases in CO2 in the atmosphere that's warming air and hence warming surface waters in the seas.
Trump has brought the USA into disrespect in the eyes of the world, and I convey my condolences to the people of the USA. Unfortunately nobody can do anything about this except for the people of the USA. The rest of us are powerless to deal with what is going on.
And to be fair there’s very little people can do about it for another four years. Though they might, perhaps, be able to reign him in a bit with the mid-terms.
And to be fair there’s very little people can do about it for another four years. Though they might, perhaps, be able to reign him in a bit with the mid-terms.
If there was a big enough blue wave in 2026 they could impeach and convict him, and ultimately prosecute the horse (Musk) he rode in on.
Has Trump any notion of the size and diversity of Canada? (At my first school maps of the world were Mercator Projection and showed a British red Canada twice the area of the USA}. Quebec is of course French -speaking and, I believe, still operates to some extent uner the pre-revolutioary French legal system,Upper Canada xfttled by Loyalists. It is not clear to me on what basis the nation should become only one state in an expanded USA. Does Trump imagine all these people will be his supporters, grateful to him for taking their country over? Has he no notion of history? Why should Canadians want to join a nation capable of throwing up (apt expression)ma head of state like the Orange Oaf? What do Trumplanders really think about this idea and its possible consequences?
Second rant: Trump insists the EU has treated the USA 'horribly] and is guilty of unspecified 'atrocities'. By this he seems to mean the EU sells more to the US than it buys. From this side of the pond, that comes across as a spoiled child whining 'They won't let me win and it's not fair.'
And to be fair there’s very little people can do about it for another four years. Though they might, perhaps, be able to reign him in a bit with the mid-terms.
If there was a big enough blue wave in 2026 they could impeach and convict him, and ultimately prosecute the horse (Musk) he rode in on.
The problem is that in many ways there's no going back to a previous state, both because this was the result of a particular trajectory (Musk and Trump are symptoms rather than ultimate causes), and because the rest of the world has now got to be prepared for more of the same, as John Quiggin writes here https://crookedtimber.org/2025/02/01/the-dispensable-nation/
I wonder how long it'll be before the God-Emperor declares that both he and his horse are Divine?
I am, as enny fule kno, thinking of Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), who was Roman emperor from 37 to 41 CE.
Note that he reigned for only four years...
I thought you might be . You're a wicked man BF! I did Latin in school, lived to tell the tale and horror of horrors actually liked it.....
And according to the excellent Mary Beard Caligula means 'little boots'......
I don't know if anyone has read Colin Fprbes book 'The Power'? It's just a spy thriller but in it one of the characters is a President in America who went rogue so to speak. I liked his earlier b ooks but felt he suffered from verbal diarrhoea in his later ones like this one. It's a complicated intertwining plot too IMNSVHO!
I came top of the class in Latin, in my third year at Grammer Skool...
Joking aside, Trump seems to be descending further into insanity by the day. I gather that he's now threatening the EU and the UK with tariffs, as punishment for unspecified atrocities, but we were told recently that he wanted to come and free us from the unspeakable socialist dystopia into which we have fallen...
And to be fair there’s very little people can do about it for another four years. Though they might, perhaps, be able to reign him in a bit with the mid-terms.
There are still all the options available in a democracy. People can take to the streets to protest against either individual acts or the whole raft of government measures. They can bombard elected representatives with letters and emails and phone calls stating their opinions. They can challenge lies and misinformation posted online (that's what Zuckerberg said he wanted to see when he stopped fact checking). They can refuse to cooperate with what they consider illegal or unethical acts - if they get letters inviting them to resign they bin them and keep working doing all that's necessary to fulfil their job description until someone fires them, and then take employers to court for unfair dismissal; don't cooperate with anyone trying to locate a migrant; etc. And, of course, the mid terms and other elections to vote for sane candidates who could hinder the passing of awful legislation.
And, if the Trump administration cracks down and makes any of those exercises of democracy illegal then be prepared to go to court and take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Don't lie down and take it, and do whatever you can to support those who are standing up against evil.
I'm still drafting my sermon for the 16th Feb, Gospel from Luke 6 (his version of the Beatitudes), but a section I'm working on seems relevant here. Part of the blessings is the support of other people (I think on this Luke is stronger by having Jesus come to a level place with the disciples he's teaching, rather than in Matthew where he heads up a mountain with Moses-like aloofness), and that also means the Beatitudes are a call to the church to be that blessing of support for those in need. Of course, the "Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets." is particularly appropriate given the recent treatment of Bishop Budde. Not all are called to be preachers and prophets (that's also come up in the lectionary recently), but those who are called face the treatment prophets always receive. The rest of us are called to stand behind and support those who take a prophetic stand - when they're rejected and excluded we should be there to welcome them, when they're insulted we should be there to complement them. Of course, what's true of how we bless church leaders who take a stand also applies to how we bless everyone else who takes a stand against evil, who are standing with Christ whether they recognise that or not.
I wonder how long it'll be before the God-Emperor declares that both he and his horse are Divine?
I am, as enny fule kno, thinking of Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), who was Roman emperor from 37 to 41 CE.
Note that he reigned for only four years...
The Rest is History had a podcast on Caligula today. They said he had just expressed that he might make his horse a consul and gave it all the rich trappings of such a role, rather than actually making it a consul. It was satire to mock the senators; he would make his favourite horse a consul but they would never attain such a position.
So possibly bad not mad.
No, the opposite. He is making America great again by Machiavellian means. They work. They're working. The 'world' respects=fears him. This too will pass. In 12-16 years.
Perhaps there are parallels with Caligula - maybe Trump considers all the events of the last few weeks as a joke for his own entertainment.
Attention. I think he craves positive attention and praise above all other things. And, like all toddlers, he’ll go for any attention if he can’t get praise.
I am keeping my self up to date on things Donald does. I notice he wants to start a US sovereign wealth fund. The US seems to have little or no spare money, as us allies are apparently taking it all. Where will he get the funds. A Sovereign Wealth fund is usually started with excess funds. Not normal government funds.
It has been a bit of a puzzle to us non-evangelical types on this side of the pond why mant US evangelicals support Trump. Mrs RR pointed me towards this site, which helped me understand the issues a lot better. It may be useful to others. If not, or if it is offensive to US shipmates I apologise.
It has been a bit of a puzzle to us non-evangelical types on this side of the pond why mant US evangelicals support Trump. Mrs RR pointed me towards this site, which helped me understand the issues a lot better. It may be useful to others. If not, or if it is offensive to US shipmates I apologise.
Wow, the author of that piece has chugged a full gallon of the Trump kool aid and associated myths. I thought about counting the lies but there were too many.
It has been a bit of a puzzle to us non-evangelical types on this side of the pond why mant US evangelicals support Trump. Mrs RR pointed me towards this site, which helped me understand the issues a lot better. It may be useful to others. If not, or if it is offensive to US shipmates I apologise.
Wow, the author of that piece has chugged a full gallon of the Trump kool aid and associated myths. I thought about counting the lies but there were too many.
I thought it was excellent 'ventriloquizing'. And sadly naive in the final analysis.
Has Trump any notion of the size and diversity of Canada? (At my first school maps of the world were Mercator Projection and showed a British red Canada twice the area of the USA}. Quebec is of course French -speaking and, I believe, still operates to some extent uner the pre-revolutioary French legal system,Upper Canada xfttled by Loyalists. It is not clear to me on what basis the nation should become only one state in an expanded USA. Does Trump imagine all these people will be his supporters, grateful to him for taking their country over? Has he no notion of history? Why should Canadians want to join a nation capable of throwing up (apt expression)ma head of state like the Orange Oaf? What do Trumplanders really think about this idea and its possible consequences?
Second rant: Trump insists the EU has treated the USA 'horribly] and is guilty of unspecified 'atrocities'. By this he seems to mean the EU sells more to the US than it buys. From this side of the pond, that comes across as a spoiled child whining 'They won't let me win and it's not fair.'
Quebec operates under a home-grown Civil Code from 1994 (replacing the 1864 version) with all the modern features.
But aside from that, the hand of kinship is always extended to the Lost Provinces. All that is necessary is for them to apologize to HM Charles III for their gratuitous rudeness to the late George III, of happy memory and pay for that tea (with interest) which wound up floating in Boston Harbour.
And then we can be one big British North America again.
Trump is now going after the Department of Education.
I think the one reason why he thinks he can do this stems from the Supreme Court decision that whatever he does in carrying out the duties of the President (as he sees it) is immune from prosecution.
Comments
That's got a lot more to do with catastrophe theory than it has quantum physics.
I can only hope.
Who can tell what actually goes on in that head, smothered as it is by that weird furry animal?
I get the impression that Trump doesn't really have much idea of what goes on in The Real World outside his own bubble.
It confirms access by the Musk team to personnel records, also that the issue of the letters was crudely and broadly targeted.
It all seems very odd indeed on this side of the Pond.
It's hard to tell whether this is ineptitude or deliberately sowing chaos so that the federal government is forced to retrench and limit its activities.
Just so. A ghastly man, of whom we are well rid.
A friend of mine who is a professor of politics opined that you can see a lot of what Musk intends to do with the government by looking at what he did to Twitter.
That...wasn't great.
Riiiiiight. The Tsar Bomba was 60 mt. A middling H-bomb is around a megaton. So a thousand average H-bombs = 1 middling hurricane. The US can do, oooh, 3-5 of those.
Weather systems are difficult to predict with any certainty. Normal system are predictable enough to give decently reliable forecasts 4-5 days in advance. Storm systems are harder to predict, and frequently deviate in path and intensity from forecasts that are only a couple of days old. When the "normal" development of a storm is only approximately predictable beyond a few days, the impact of an extra-ordinary event such as detonating a bomb in the storm is even less predictable.
What is well known and understood is that by far the best way to reduce the power of a tropical storm is to cool the water in the seas it develops over. Which in practice means slowing and then reversing the increases in CO2 in the atmosphere that's warming air and hence warming surface waters in the seas.
If there was a big enough blue wave in 2026 they could impeach and convict him, and ultimately prosecute the horse (Musk) he rode in on.
I am, as enny fule kno, thinking of Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), who was Roman emperor from 37 to 41 CE.
Note that he reigned for only four years...
Second rant: Trump insists the EU has treated the USA 'horribly] and is guilty of unspecified 'atrocities'. By this he seems to mean the EU sells more to the US than it buys. From this side of the pond, that comes across as a spoiled child whining 'They won't let me win and it's not fair.'
The problem is that in many ways there's no going back to a previous state, both because this was the result of a particular trajectory (Musk and Trump are symptoms rather than ultimate causes), and because the rest of the world has now got to be prepared for more of the same, as John Quiggin writes here https://crookedtimber.org/2025/02/01/the-dispensable-nation/
I thought you might be . You're a wicked man BF! I did Latin in school, lived to tell the tale and horror of horrors actually liked it.....
And according to the excellent Mary Beard Caligula means 'little boots'......
I don't know if anyone has read Colin Fprbes book 'The Power'? It's just a spy thriller but in it one of the characters is a President in America who went rogue so to speak. I liked his earlier b ooks but felt he suffered from verbal diarrhoea in his later ones like this one. It's a complicated intertwining plot too IMNSVHO!
Joking aside, Trump seems to be descending further into insanity by the day. I gather that he's now threatening the EU and the UK with tariffs, as punishment for unspecified atrocities, but we were told recently that he wanted to come and free us from the unspeakable socialist dystopia into which we have fallen...
And, if the Trump administration cracks down and makes any of those exercises of democracy illegal then be prepared to go to court and take it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. Don't lie down and take it, and do whatever you can to support those who are standing up against evil.
I'm still drafting my sermon for the 16th Feb, Gospel from Luke 6 (his version of the Beatitudes), but a section I'm working on seems relevant here. Part of the blessings is the support of other people (I think on this Luke is stronger by having Jesus come to a level place with the disciples he's teaching, rather than in Matthew where he heads up a mountain with Moses-like aloofness), and that also means the Beatitudes are a call to the church to be that blessing of support for those in need. Of course, the "Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets." is particularly appropriate given the recent treatment of Bishop Budde. Not all are called to be preachers and prophets (that's also come up in the lectionary recently), but those who are called face the treatment prophets always receive. The rest of us are called to stand behind and support those who take a prophetic stand - when they're rejected and excluded we should be there to welcome them, when they're insulted we should be there to complement them. Of course, what's true of how we bless church leaders who take a stand also applies to how we bless everyone else who takes a stand against evil, who are standing with Christ whether they recognise that or not.
So possibly bad not mad.
There is something of the Roman Emperor about Trump, though, and not in a good way.
OK......So what in the name of all that's holy is he doing???
Posturing.
Attention. I think he craves positive attention and praise above all other things. And, like all toddlers, he’ll go for any attention if he can’t get praise.
Up to and including tantrums.
And still people run round him licking his boots.
That's theatre. And poker. And politics. It works. Until it doesn't. No sign of that. China will take up the slack? I don't think so.
https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/uk-christians-dont-understand-why-us-evangelicals-voted-for-trump-we-need-a-better-conversation/18874.article
Wow, the author of that piece has chugged a full gallon of the Trump kool aid and associated myths. I thought about counting the lies but there were too many.
I thought it was excellent 'ventriloquizing'. And sadly naive in the final analysis.
I believe it's a version of the Code Napoleon, not pre-Revolutionay law.
Quebec operates under a home-grown Civil Code from 1994 (replacing the 1864 version) with all the modern features.
But aside from that, the hand of kinship is always extended to the Lost Provinces. All that is necessary is for them to apologize to HM Charles III for their gratuitous rudeness to the late George III, of happy memory and pay for that tea (with interest) which wound up floating in Boston Harbour.
And then we can be one big British North America again.
I think the one reason why he thinks he can do this stems from the Supreme Court decision that whatever he does in carrying out the duties of the President (as he sees it) is immune from prosecution.
Linkywinky?