Quote (Black XistenZ @ 21 Jan 2025 12:36)

Putin did indeed look very sickly 2 years ago, though. The speculation that he might just drop dead were always hopium, but I genuinely think that he did have a health issue around that time, just one which his doctors were able to treat successfully.

Quote (Norlander @ 21 Jan 2025 12:57)

Ushi von der Leyen:
"Europe used to receive 45% of its gas and 50% of its coal from Russia, and Russia was also our key supplier of oil. This energy was cheap, but we faced Putin's blackmail when he sent tanks into Ukraine and cut off our gas supply.

In response, we reduced our dependence on Russian gas by 75% in record time. Now we import only 3% of our oil from Russia and no coal at all.

But this freedom did not come without a cost: our households and businesses faced skyrocketing energy prices. And for many, the bills have not yet come down. Now our competitiveness depends on returning to low and stable energy prices, and green energy is the interim solution."

TL;DR version:
"Previously, we needed a toilet. Now we've decided to sh*t right into our pants. But it turns out we stink. Well, deodorant is an intermediate step in dealing with the stench."

Quote (Norlander @ Jan 21 2025 12:57pm)

Ushi von der Leyen:
"Europe used to receive 45% of its gas and 50% of its coal from Russia, and Russia was also our key supplier of oil. This energy was cheap, but we faced Putin's blackmail when he sent tanks into Ukraine and cut off our gas supply.

In response, we reduced our dependence on Russian gas by 75% in record time. Now we import only 3% of our oil from Russia and no coal at all.

But this freedom did not come without a cost: our households and businesses faced skyrocketing energy prices. And for many, the bills have not yet come down. Now our competitiveness depends on returning to low and stable energy prices, and green energy is the interim solution."

TL;DR version:
"Previously, we needed a toilet. Now we've decided to sh*t right into our pants. But it turns out we stink. Well, deodorant is an intermediate step in dealing with the stench."

Quote

Europe is buying Russian gas at an unprecedented rate in 2025, spending billions of dollars the Kremlin can use to fund its war in Ukraine just weeks after the end of a major transit agreement raised hopes the continent may break its dependency on Moscow.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.

It was not immediately clear how much assistance would initially be affected by the Monday order as funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and is obligated to be spent, if not already spent.

The order, among many Trump signed on his first day back in office, said the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values” and “serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”

Consequently, Trump declared that “no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States.”