A partial win? So far this is the most resounding and embarrassing defeat I remember witnessing over the past decades.

sechs sieben

You know, let’s just burn up every single gas and oil field on the planet at once and be done with it. At least that will finally and definitively end the fossil fuels vs. renewables debate. (And destroy Earth in the process but yeah.)

Laut https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2026-03/verwendung-sondervermoegen-missbrauch-98-prozent-schulden hat eine Klage aber keine großen Chancen:

Wenn das neue Sondervermögen aber tatsächlich zweckentfremdet wird, stellt sich die Frage, ob man dagegen nicht klagen könnte. Im Grundgesetz steht, das Kriterium der Zusätzlichkeit sei erfüllt, “wenn im jeweiligen Haushaltsjahr eine angemessene Investitionsquote erreicht wird”, das Nähere regele ein Bundesgesetz.

Das Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens Infrastruktur und Klimaschutz regelt das Nähere so: Wenn im regulären Haushalt die Investitionen mindestens zehn Prozent ausmachen, ist alles darüber hinaus “zusätzlich”. Damit ist die Latte schon ziemlich tief gehängt. Denn 2024 betrug der Investitionsanteil bereits 10,8 Prozent, wie die ifo-Forscher vorrechnen. Von daher könnte die Bundesregierung die Investitionen im regulären Haushalt sogar leicht verringern – und hätte juristisch trotzdem “zusätzlich” investiert.

Es wird aber noch absurder. Laut Gesetz ist lediglich nötig, dass die “veranschlagten” Investitionen zehn Prozent ausmachen. “Es kommt auf die Planung im Haushalt an, nicht darauf, was man wirklich ausgibt”, sagt Henning Tappe, Professor für Finanz- und Steuerrecht an der Universität Trier. Man muss die Investitionen also gar nicht tätigen, man muss sie nur planen. Oder das nur angeben. “Offensichtliche Fantasiezahlen in den Haushaltsplan hineinschreiben darf man allerdings nicht”, sagt Tappe. “Trotzdem hätte man das besser regeln können, in der Hektik damals wurde da nicht so gründlich gearbeitet.”

Ich würde mal sagen: das Geld ist weg.

I think Trump’s best course of action is to take the loss, pull out and try to sell it as a “mission accomplished” at home, which might just work for the redhats.

Then he still has to hope that the mullahs take the win and leave it at that, not trying to avenge the old Khameini any further.

And he still has to hope that he hasn’t permanently damaged the alliances with the Gulf states.

And he still has to hope that the economic chaos he’s started doesn’t escalate and it doesn’t take too long to return to normal.

Etc.

I.e. the US is very likely fucked in the long term. But all other options seem even worse.

I think OP is referring to the passage following what you posted, Matthew 24:36-44:

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (ESV - emphasis mine)

There’s some additional passages in the Bible that reference the “thief in the night” motif, namely 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelations 16:15.

That said, my interpretation is that these talk about the point in time which is unknown, not about the manner of Jesus’ return.

The German city I used to live in has an oversized pedestrian overpass with three large openings or holes. It never had an official name (as it was never intended as a monument or sight), but right from the start it was locally known as the Elefantenklo (“elephant loo”), or E-Klo.

These days it’s often considered Gießen’s most well-known landmark, which… tells you something about the place.

German wiki with photoa: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elefantenklo_(Gießen)

Meh, he’ll just forget about Iran and do Cuba next. Remove/kill Díaz-Canel, bomb some civilians maybe. Then the next target (maybe something in Africa for a change?) and so on. Who’s gonna stop him? The Senate? SCOTUS? lol

Music and chess, mostly

I love reading these in the original “rhythm”, one per day. I’ve been excited for that beanie to finally be delivered almost as much as Calvin.

I was joking in case it wasn’t absolutely obvious. I would strongly contest the view that he facilitated peace in even one country.

I mean he ended what, 8? 9? wars - he can start like another three or four and still be a net peacemaker.

I have very little knowledge about military stuff. Can someone please explain to me why the US can’t just bomb all Shahed construction facilities to rubble? Is it

• because they don’t know all the locations where drones are being produced
• because the facilities are somehow too well defended (underground or something?)
• because Shaheds can be built in random locations, like someone’s garage
• because Iran’s air defense is capable of intercepting such strikes
• because of some other reason?

…which is why I doubt this will actually happen. Too many US oligarchs would lose money. It’s just more posturing by the Taco.

If he’s smart, he’ll stay anywhere BUT his own house.

Yeah they should’ve just made the soundtrack.

I’m sure I have a bunch, but for the fediverse I think the most controversial is that I think neopronouns are a bad idea. DISCLAIMER I support queer folks, and I also use neopronouns when requested (because there’s zero reason to be a dick about it), but I think everybody would be better off without them.

The entire purpose of pronouns is to offer a quick, generic (i. e. non-individual) way of referring to people or objects without using their names. Using neopronouns which have to be communicated and learned first is the opposite of that. So in my view they’re not really pronouns, just additional names one has to learn for a person.

I think the most sensible way of accommodating all genders is using whatever pronouns are present in the language (usually male and female, or a generic pronoun), plus a non-binary pronoun if needed, like singular they in English.

Dunno about that, but the DoW is alive and well, fulfilling its purpose.

According to Wikipedia, “middle age” commonly refers to 45-60, although I’ve seen it used for 40-60 too.

I could see Calvin’s dad being in his late thirties, maybe Watterson even had something like ~33 in mind considering average paternal age in the US in 1980 was 27.9 according to this source, and Calvin is known to be 6 y/o.

The dad may look a bit older but I think some of that is due to the fashion style.

Der Iran ist immer so weit von Atomwaffen entfernt wie die USA von einem neuen Healthcare-Plan.