Yes, that's right. The last European elections at the latest showed impressively that those dull people who are unable to see through the PR campaigns of the powerful are not an exclusive US problem. It is of course absolutely right that we in Europe rely far too much on the Americans and should set stricter limits to their capitalism, which in my opinion is completely out of joint. But I fear that we have already gotten too far into this quagmire. This is precisely why it is all the more important to raise awareness of this and to name those who are actually responsible for falling living standards and growing inequality - the US-type opportunists, the hangers-on and especially the blatant fascists in the ranks of our politicians and our societies. I am not at all convinced that the reasonable people have a shot, but I sure will continue to make an effort.

A system that appoints supreme constitutional judges for life and without even halfway serious democratic checks and balances seems to me the perfect recipe for disaster and corruption. But hey, I'm from Europe, so what do I know... ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Banning UN officials from visiting the country? Isn't that usually the first thing the so called villains do in times of war?

Fun fact: Monopoly originated from "The Landlord's Game" created in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie, an anti-monopolist who designed it to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land ownership.

Musk has already turned Twitter into Truth Social anyway. So no need.

I think this example illustrates very well how detached from reality the stock market is: Truth Social is not an important social media platform and will probably never make a profit. Nevertheless, one can make an absurd amount of money with such a bogus company - but unfortunately only if one has the right friends and belongs to their circles.

In this sense, one almost has to be grateful to Trump because he makes the functional logic of this rotten system so obvious.

I can no longer tell the difference between the US Republicans and a doomsday cult.

I had somewhat hoped that my fellow countrymen in Germany would not fall for the obtuse populism of the right, but that is exactly what has happened.

I'm afraid there's nothing left to counter this, because voters obviously no longer care about rational arguments and don't even want to acknowledge the real problems of our time. They make it easy for themselves and just blame everything on illegal migration or whatever - just as the right-wingers tell them to do.

In this reality characterized by stupidity and false attributions of blame, it is hardly surprising that important but somewhat abstract topics such as data protection are no longer of interest to the masses. It's enough to make you cry.

So can the rest of the GOP also hold Trump financially responsible for the damage he has done to that party's (arguably already rather dubious) reputation?

I'm pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing. He's a unscrupulous grifter that was in it for the money from day one. Low IQ is no excuse for being a scumbag.

Quick reminder: NATO's collective defense clause, also known as Article 5, has only been triggered once. It was invoked in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

When someone quite obviously rejects both the electoral system and the legal system unless they work to his advantage, one must surely get the impression that this person simply has no interest in democracy at all.

I think it is unfair to not make him face the consequences of his actions.

Is that Angela Merkel in the middle? If so this must be at least an old photo. She is not the German chancellor anymore. Not that that would make things any better...

Thanks, Mark! Can I also place ads claiming the 2016 election was rigged?

When I read these things I am tempted to believe more and more that all hope in humanity is lost. I can't believe that our so-called allies in America are not able to recognize injustice and treat it the same way. Your society is finished - there is no other way to put it.

I think the message of this post is pretty clear: it refers to simple fact that legitimate criticism of the actions of the state of Israel is quite often and often quite deliberately dismissed as anti-Semitism. That is ridiculous. There is nothing anti-Semitic about criticizing a state for its criminal actions. What is even more ridiculous is the attempt to even try and silence Jews who criticize the state of Israel with crude concepts such as Jewish self-hatred. This is not about religion, but about the rejection of crimes against humanity, for which not a religious community but a sovereign state is responsible.

I was very sad to see Tom's video. He has always delivered content as it should be. No bullshit at all, but rather informative, well-researched assessments. I have the utmost respect for people like Tom and can well understand that he simply can't carry on like this under the current conditions.

The saddest thing about this is that the Europeans and especially the Germans should really know better. But no, all the lessons from our dark history seem to have been forgotten - or they are simply ignored so that one can once again live in the comfortable world of simple explanations where there is always some minority to blame.

The saddest part is that it will probably take a conviction in this trial for many US citizens to realize that Trump is not a viable presidential candidate. The state of American society is frightening.

I assume that most of the former NPD members have found a new home with the AfD.

That's the spirit. I hope this did not discouraged you in any way. This post was never intended to bring you down, but rather to raise some awareness to how beautiful the internet could be...Yes, I'm making this up. Tbh it was just a literal showerthought - I did not think this would discouraged anyone. I'm very sorry!

"Trickle down economics lead to more wealth for all."

Unfortunately, I don't have space for a bridge at the moment, but I would be interested in some snake oil.

Isn't getting attention the whole point of buying a expensive car like that for most people? I mean the same goes for expensive sports cars: most people don't get these because they are particularly good drivers - hell, some are even so old they can't even get into those cars properly.

I think what you are describing is not a specifically American problem. In Germany, for example, the AfD, an extreme right-wing, openly fascist party, is unfortunately on the rise as well. This party uses almost exactly the same strategy as the conservatives in America - simplistic, often anecdotal explanations, false accusations, targeted disinformation, refusal to compromise on anything and so on. Unfortunately, this also works frighteningly well in many other countries. And the same problem seems to exist everywhere: People who are either hopelessly misinformed or not informed at all, or even unquestioningly and often downright sectarianly parroting what their leaders claim (plus those who are actually racists and fascists by conviction). I suspect that this is largely due to the fact that social media is the only source of information for many people today. The main problem with that imo is not only that social media logic favors offensive and particularly controversial content, but also that the owners of the largest platforms almost universally support authoritarian to fascist political currents because it is profitable for them. This is another reason why I think the mass demonstrations against fascism, racism and intolerance in Germany are quite important: they show people that there is still widespread rejection of these terrible ideas - and that seems essential to me, because social media easily gives a false impression of the "public opinion". It certainly seems worth a try to me. That's why I'm about to set off again to a demonstration against fascism. I recommend you Americans follow whether the IRL protests in Germany and elsewhere prove to be a suitable remedy to the general stupor in political debate. If so, this approach can easily be adopted in the US as well.

So is this another OJ Simpson-type situation? Don't go to jail for what you did, just pay a fine for what you did? So no criminal consequences, but some civil ones for the same offense? I mean fraud must be a criminal offense in the US too, right?

The fact that your supreme court is even willing to deal with the question of whether a president should have absolute immunity pretty much says it all.

I don't understand what there is to discuss here at all. If the US president had immunity as a matter of principle, he wouldn't be a president, he'd be some kind of god-king (even kings couldn't do whatever they wanted).

There is no justification whatsoever for denying basic humanitarian aid to starving people in a war zone. That is just straight up evil.

Tbh I think the world was already laughing in 2016. Even back then Trump was an absolutely ridiculous candidate. The real joke, though, is that even after his disastrous tenure as president and despite all of his criminal dealings, Trump is running again (and will probably even win the election). That would be funny if it were just about what this fact says about the American electorate. But unfortunately, the USA is still the strongest military power in the world. So it's not too funny for the rest of the world to have to worry about how to deal with an orange psychopath with a gigantic arsenal of weapons and enormous economic power. I therefore assume that at least the democratic rest of the world has stopped laughing by now.

Cities: Skylines 2 in a nutshell

Yes, these tricks are old and familiar. Nevertheless, US (right wing) politics seems to be adopting a lot of the workings of cults these days. I'm just surprised that US civil society is allowing this to happen. I'm from Germany and here, too, there are openly fascist parties that are gaining strength again and using the same ol' strategies. But we don't just put up with it, we take to the streets. Why are there no massive protests in the USA against Trump, against his fascist ideas and the fact that he is still at large after an anti-democratic coup attempt and countless criminal activities? He is even a presidential candidate. You can't be serious.

Stormy Daniels out?

How can Trump still be a presidential candidate? I've been asking myself that for years now. I just don't get it.

I don't understand how anyone can think that migration policy is the EU's main problem. And I really don't get why someone should vote for a party that does not share their own convictions because of EU migration policy.

I don't think there's much need to discuss the substance of this response, as it's hardly anything but finger-pointing and fear-mongering. But I do find one thing quite telling: the fact that the GOP even made one of the few women in that party give her SOTU response from a kitchen.

Could this ruling result in criminal charges or are there already proceedings underway in this matter? I mean, the judge has determined that Trump is personally responsible for fraud amounting to several hundred million dollars, right? Accordingly, he himself is banned from doing business in the state of New York for the next three years, which makes it clear that Trump himself has been found to have committed fraud. But is that all? Fraud on this scale must also be criminally relevant, mustn't it? Or is it really possible in the USA to get off the hook simply by paying a fine, even for such serious criminal misconduct?

This doesn't seem like an open question to me.