The distinction is academical. As I wrote, freedom of speech is not absolute in the USA either, think copyright law or gag orders etc. And arguing about this day after Colbert's show is cancelled...
553 karma · joined March 31, 2020
Moreover, in practice, there is more freedom of speech in most EU countries than in the USA https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/freedom-of-expression-ind...:
USA: 0.89 France: 0.96 Germany: 0.94 Czechia: 0.96 etc.
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/.github/workflo...
Everyone says « pastèque » in mainland France, where I've lived for over 40 years. I've never seen melon d'eau and I doubt anyone will understand it unless they know the English word.
Freedom of expression index (higher is better)
Germany: 0.94
USA: 0.89
The reality is that Russia had had NATO countries on its borders (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) for years before it invaded Georgia and Ukraine. And two years ago Finland joined as well. Russia did nothing to prevent this.
NATO is a defensive alliance. The only thing it threatens is Russia's imperialism and expansionism.
Russia broke countless agreements where it recognized Ukraine's borders and independence, so Russia's signature is now worthless.
The war could stop tomorrow if Russia stopped the aggression it started. But Putin has consistently made it clear he wants all of Ukraine. Here's a recent example: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-the-whole-uk...
Everyone knows how Russia treats the peoples of lands it conquers: torture, executions, deportations etc. No country could accept these terms. It would amount to national suicide. For this reason Ukrainians have to choice but to keep fighting.
Remember that in the 1990's the US put Ukraine under pressure to give up its nuclear arsenal (2nd in the world at the time) against promises that its sovereignty and independence would be respected (Budapest memorandums). Who is going to believe the US now?
$ git grep -i retard v6.15
v6.15:drivers/net/dsa/sja1105/sja1105_dynamic_config.c:/* The switch is so retarded that it makes our command/entry abstraction
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_a.h:#define B43_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD B43_OFDMTAB(0x09, 0)
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_lp.h:#define B43_LPPHY_ADVANCEDRETARDROTOR_ADDR B43_PHY_OFDM(0x8B) /* AdvancedRetardRotor Address */
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/phy_n.h:#define B43_NPHY_PHYSTAT_ADVRET B43_PHY_N(0x1F3) /* PHY stats ADV retard */
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.c:const u32 b43_tab_retard[] = {
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.c: BUILD_BUG_ON(B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE != ARRAY_SIZE(b43_tab_retard));
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.h:#define B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE 53
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/tables.h:extern const u32 b43_tab_retard[];
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c:static void b43_wa_art(struct b43_wldev *dev) /* ADV retard table */
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c: for (i = 0; i < B43_TAB_RETARD_SIZE; i++)
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c: b43_ofdmtab_write32(dev, B43_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD,
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43/wa.c: i, b43_tab_retard[i]);
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.c:const u32 b43legacy_ilt_retard[B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE] = {
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.h:#define B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE 53
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/ilt.h:extern const u32 b43legacy_ilt_retard[B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE];
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.c: for (i = 0; i < B43legacy_ILT_RETARD_SIZE; i++)
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.c: b43legacy_ilt_retard[i]);
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/b43legacy/phy.h:#define B43legacy_OFDMTAB_ADVRETARD B43legacy_OFDMTAB(0x09, 0)
v6.15:drivers/net/wireless/broadcom/brcm80211/brcmsmac/d11.h:/* Advance Retard */
v6.15:fs/bcachefs/bkey_cmp.h: /* we shouldn't need asm for this, but gcc is being retarded: */U+005A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER Z
U+010C LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CARON
U+0395 GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON
The Moscow military parade is meant to demonstrate the neo-imperial Russian military might, on the 80th anniversary of the USSR conquering half of Europe. That's the way it is presented, with slogans like «Можем повторить» i.e. “We can repeat it”.
The former striking the latter would be a bit like a terrorist accidentally blowing up on a bomb of their own making.
- barrel length (x): 5.08 meters
- muzzle velocity (v): 827 m/s
Assuming a constant acceleration γ, x = γ * t² / 2 and v = γ * t
Hence:
- t = 2 * x / v = 12.29 ms
- γ = v / t = 67316 m / s² = 7000 G
A bit lower than 9000 G, but in the same ballpark.
Certain rounds, like Excalibur (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M982_Excalibur) or BONUS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bofors/Nexter_Bonus), are sophisticated and are able to cope with such accelerations.
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2022/06/16/the-braz... The Brazilian Candidate: The Studious Cover Identity of an Alleged Russian Spy
Maybe also Pablo González Yagüe aka Pavel Alekseyevich Rubtsov.
> ... some were concerned about the law's provisions favoring American industry. ... the chairman of the 2023 G20 meeting in India, called it "the most protectionist act ever drafted in the world", asking American officials, "You believed in market forces and now you do this?" Other countries have begun to create their own similar laws. China requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States.
> 27 European Union finance ministers have expressed "serious concerns" about the financial incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act, and are considering challenging it. They have listed at least nine points in the legislation, which they say could be in breach of World Trade Organization rules. They were opposed to the subsidies for consumers to buy North American-assembled electric cars, as EU officials believe the subsidies discriminate against European carmakers. One EU official told CNBC that, "there is a political consensus (among the 27 ministers) that this plan threatens the European industry" and its supply of raw materials. In February 2023, the European Commission announced it would propose the "Net Zero Industrial Act", similar to the IRA, in turn putting pressure on the United Kingdom and South Korea.
Brussels is watching amazed, as Trump destroys the US economy. "Nobody in the Commission thought that the US government would be this stupid and self-destructive," an EU official tells me. "That they would blow up their own country by letting ChatGPT make their trade policy." EU officials are quietly preparing brutal countermeasures — but they’re in no rush. Markets are doing the work for them. Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes: Trump’s chaos is collapsing the US markets faster than any EU retaliation could. Inside the Commission and among EU governments, the mood is: Don't give Trump an excuse to blame this on others. Since February, the S&P 500 has dropped 20%. European officials believe Trump's trade chaos is backfiring — and see no reason to escalate while the damage grows organically. Inside the Commission and among EU trade ministers, the mood is calm — almost mocking. “We’ll just let them stew,” another senior official says. “If Trump doesn’t blink by the end of the month, we’re ready to hit hard.” But for now? They'll watch him sweat. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck summed up the mood: “We're under no time pressure. The Americans are under pressure and are now in a position of weakness,” he said. “The damage can get even worse — that’s why we must act calmly, carefully, but decisively.” Habeck also mocked Elon Musk’s call for a US-EU "zero-tariff" deal: “It's sign of weakness and fear. If he has something to say, he should go to his President... Before we talk about zero tariffs, stop the nonsense and mess you just made in the last week.”
Seen from abroad, trust in the rule of law and property rights has been eroded. Today Trump sends randos to El Salvador, maybe tomorrow he will nationalize enterprises or other assets, with no meaningful opposition from the Congress and the judiciary? Germany is already pulling gold from the US, that had been stored there for decades. Better safe than sorry.
> Navarro was invited to be an advisor after Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner saw on Amazon that he co-wrote Death by China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Navarro#Trump_campaign_a...
> Navarro's views on trade are considered outside the mainstream of economic thought. ... According to Politico, Navarro's economic theories are "considered fringe" by his fellow economists. A New Yorker reporter described Navarro's views on trade and China as so radical "that, even with his assistance, I was unable to find another economist who fully agrees with them."
> According to Lee Branstetter, economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University and trade expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Navarro "was never a part of the group of economists who ever studied the global free-trade system... He doesn't publish in journals. What he's writing and saying right now has nothing to do with what he got his Harvard Ph.D. in... He doesn't do research that would meet the scientific standards of that community." Marcus Noland, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, described a tax and trade paper written by Navarro and Wilbur Ross for Trump as "a complete misunderstanding of international trade, on their part."
Today I learned about how, early in his first term, Trump told his son-in-law Jared Kushner to select a trade advisor, giving him a few vague ideas. Kushner searched Amazon for these terms and one of the first results was Death by China, by Peter Navarro. This is reportedly how this guy was hired. Navarro often cites an supposed expert, "Ron Vara" to back up his claims. It turns our "Ron Vara" does not exist and is just the anagram of "Navarro". The trouble is Navarro believes every import decreases the GDP of the US, an idea every economist except him seems to know is incorrect since at least the 19th century if not earlier.
Wild story.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/doesn-t-exist-maddow...
One would think a "genius" like Elon Musk would be better at choosing who he supports when so much is at stake... One would be wrong.
Russia, North Korea and handful of other countries were spared, likely because they sided with the US and Russia at the UN General Assembly on Feb 24 of this year, in voting against “Advancing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4076672
EDIT: Found it: https://nitter.net/krishnanrohit/status/1907587352157106292
Also discussed here: https://www.latintimes.com/trump-accused-using-chatgpt-creat...
The theory was first floated by Destiny, a popular political commentator. He accused the administration of using ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs the U.S. is charged by other countries, "which is why the tariffs make absolutely no fucking sense."
"They're simply dividing the trade deficit we have with a country with our imports from that country, or using 10%, whichever is greater," Destiny, who goes by @TheOmniLiberal on X, shared in a post on Wednesday.
> I think they asked ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs from other countries, which is why the tariffs make absolutely no fucking sense.
> They're simply dividing the trade deficit we have with a country with our imports from that country, or using 10%, whichever is greater. https://t.co/Rc45V7qxHl pic.twitter.com/SUu2syKbHS
> — Destiny | Steven Bonnell II (@TheOmniLiberal) April 2, 2025
He attached a screenshot of his exchange with the AI bot. He started by asking ChatGPT, "What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%."
"To calculate tariffs that help level the playing field in terms of trade deficits (with a minimum tariff of 10%), you can use a proportional tariff formula based on the trade deficit with each country. The idea is to impose higher tariffs on countries with which the U.S. has larger trade deficits, thus incentivizing more balanced trade," the bot responded, along with a formula to use.
John Aravosis, an influencer with a background in law and journalism, shared a TikTok video that then outlined how each tariff was calculated; by essentially taking the U.S. trade deficit with the country divided by the total imports from that country to the U.S.
"Guys, they're setting U.S. trade policy based on a bad ChatGPT question that got it totally wrong. That's how we're doing trade war with the world," Aravosis proclaimed before adding the stock market is "totally crashing."