Iceland is not part of the EU, that is correct, but it is part of Europe as far as I recall, or am I mistaken? It is part of Schengen, and is on the European council. Edit. And the EEA

where’s iceland?

Oh no, and he was sooo close to the noble price…

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In all these overviews I would really like to start seeing the EU grouped as well.

Direct as in personal. As in being in the room.

Direct source.

Beginning of 2024 volvo managers from EU had a planned visit to volvo US that they were not looking forward to. The reason was that volvo US was very vocal about how pro trump they were because he was “good for business”.

But not a blanket tarrif, they just targeted some specific products.

You’re correct—at first glance, going from $12.99 to $18.99 (~46%) seems excessive if there’s only a 25% tariff on barley. Let me break down the math realistically:

Suppose barley represents about 10% of the beer’s retail price (roughly $1.30 per six-pack). A 25% tariff directly adds about 33 cents to production costs. When these extra costs pass through brewery markup, distribution markup, and retail markup, the final retail price would rise modestly—around 8% ($12.99 → ~$14.01).

However, in reality, price changes aren’t just simple cost-pass-throughs. Tariffs create uncertainty, higher logistics costs, and lower expected sales volume due to consumer price sensitivity. Businesses anticipating reduced sales volume and increased indirect costs often raise prices more substantially. Furthermore, retail prices are strategically set to maintain profitability, market positioning, and account for anticipated risks.

While jumping directly to $18.99 could indeed include an element of margin protection (some might view it as excessive), it’s not purely ‘price gouging.’ It’s more realistically a combination of cost management, risk mitigation, and pricing strategy, reflecting broader market uncertainty caused by tariffs.

NATO-Europe without the U.S. still outmatches Russia militarily and economically by a wide margin, but the real issue isn’t brute strength—it’s readiness and political will. Russia can’t beat Ukraine, let alone all of NATO, but a surprise move in the Baltics or Suwałki Gap could be disastrous if Europe doesn’t act fast. It’s not that Russia is strong—it’s that Europe can’t afford to be slow or divided.

one thing that i keep needing to bring up as well, with what troops? Russia has been losing a lot of people in Ukraine. Even if we ignore all the numbers being thrown about how many they really lost, they have lost troops. Invading Europe? Even if they would make start churning out vehicles at a breakneck speed now, where do they get the people to operate them? How will they hold the regions they would get?

Loved them. Only thing he did that I did not like that much was his cyberpunk review.

Installed mint on an older computer I had so my oldest daughter could have a pc for school. She has had zero problems using it.

Excel is a fantastic tool. It is however not a database.

To me it seems as if the plan is to make it worse for the average person, up till a point that it is almost unbearable. Then spin the narrative blaming the other countries for the situation. Get the base riled up (history has shown that that is quite easy to do). Declare martial law and “expand” American territory.

-> No elections during war time?

Ah, just thinking out loud here. Probably overreacting…

He will be pardoned before it all starts.

I know this is sidetracking a bit, but i just wanted the chance to ask somebody who is actually from Great Britain, how is it there.? Without having to look for information online that could be propaganda as we don’t really know which information source is reliable or not. How are you guys holding up?

I was going to say to have your cake and eat it, but with the price of eggs over there I’m not really sure they could.

Just short FYI, I don’t know exactly your situation so I won’t go to deep into it, but moving to another country with a dog is no big deal. If you are worried about the dog, they just want to be with you, where ever you go.