Althouse: Speaking of things that feel like we're in a movie, the President of the United States just posted this on his place called Truth.

January 20, 2026

Speaking of things that feel like we're in a movie, the President of the United States just posted this on his place called Truth.

Link.

129 comments:

rehajm said...: …I have to admit I agree with the left on something- the trolling thing is quite enjoyable. I can smell the Euro heads exploding from my house…; 1/20/26, 7:15 AM
Jaq said...: It's like we are living in the novel Infinite Jest, except that the businessman president in that book was giving away territory, forcing Canada to takes parts of New England that had been contaminated with radiation.; 1/20/26, 7:15 AM
Dave Begley said...: Love it!

I also love Trump’s full court press on this.

The US will buy it and Trump will brag that this is his greatest real estate deal ever. Part of the deal will be that all the people living in Greenland get one million bucks. A deal they can’t refuse!; 1/20/26, 7:16 AM
Iman said...: Smoke ‘em out!; 1/20/26, 7:19 AM
Enigma said...: Trump wants Putin and Winnie the Pooh to consider him an equal in future negotiations.

Trump wants to stop paying for NATO.

Cats enjoy toying with the mice they catch too.; 1/20/26, 7:28 AM
G. Poulin said...: Marco looks sad. He has too many jobs already, and now he's in line to be Chief Eskimo of Greenland, too.; 1/20/26, 7:34 AM
Jaq said...: Europe has been living a cushy life, bragging about their social welfare programs and safety net, all the while expecting us to do the grunt work of defending their countries. Then they cap their gas wells because "fracking bad," the pick a war with Russia, and blow up their own gas supplies, they shut down and destroy their own nuclear power plants, they let their military whither away to almost nothing, sending almost all of their hardware to Ukraine to be destroyed.

Now they plan to borrow and spend their way to a strong enough military to be independent again. Europe has no friends, certainly not the Chinese, definitely not the Russians, the rest of the world is enjoying watching Europe suffer.

Trump gives zero f*cks. I don't know if it's good or bad, because I don't know what is in his head, but you know whose opinion I personally give zero f*cks about? The people who insisted that Trump said to drink bleach, in other words, the people who have been lying about Trump for a decade.

Like Europe wishes it had its military back, those people wish they had their credibility back. No they don't, they don't even understand that by repeating all of those lies about Trump, they lost their credibility.; 1/20/26, 7:35 AM
Jaq said...: Denmark screwed up though, they tried to play big boy games. The way the neocons get their way so often is to take a hypothetical threat like "If Iran wanted to, they could build a bomb in six months" and frame it as "Iran is building a bomb, and they are only six months away!" Let's bomb them! Or "hypothetically, China could take over Taiwan and close down the Straits of Macao strangling Japan." to "China works every day to strangle Japan and must be stopped!"

Well, Denmark tried to play this game, suggesting that China or Russia might take Greenland. They let the genie out of the bottle.; 1/20/26, 7:42 AM
Bob Boyd said...: I wondered where he got the picture.
Then I thought maybe Trump is using AI.
Then I remembered yesterday I read ChatGPT had talked some guy into a murder/suicide.; 1/20/26, 7:55 AM
gadfly said...: Dave B:

In 1917, Denmark and the US approved a treaty (or more specifically, a convention), wherein Denmark sold the West Indies Islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John and Saint Croix to the U.S. for $25 million in gold coin,

A declaration at the end of the treaty signed by US Secretary of State Robert Lansing conceded that the Government of the United States of America would not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.

Your the lawyer, Dave, so what do you think? Deals similar to this one, full of ifs, ands and buts, bought us the Louisiana Purchase, the Florida Peninsula and Alaska.; 1/20/26, 8:00 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Maybe we can rename it trumpland.; 1/20/26, 8:00 AM
Achilles said...: Europe is finally being treated with the contempt that they deserve.

Europe sent a total of 15 troops to "defend" Greenland.

The people ruling Europe are pathetic.; 1/20/26, 8:00 AM
Achilles said...: gadfly said...

" nothing worth caring about..."

Go move to Denmark. They like importing foreign soldiers to rape their women like Democrats do now.

We will not be tolerating that anymore here.; 1/20/26, 8:02 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Nothing is more tiresome than hearing these foreign policy x-burts wank on and on about "We're not respecting our alllies" "The NATO alliance is in disrepair due to Trump".

Nobody cares. We're only in NATO to help Europe - they need us. We don't need them.

Of course, all the globalists who worry and toss and turn at night about "Wither Paraguay" and "How can we help Luxembourg" would be upset if we left NATO. After all every country in the Goddamn world is somehow Uncle Sam's responsibility.; 1/20/26, 8:05 AM
Achilles said...: Amarok Petersen was 27 years old when she learned the gut-wrenching truth about why she couldn’t have children — and that Denmark was to blame.

Suffering from severe uterine problems, a medical doctor discovered an IUD birth control device in her body that she didn’t know she had.

Danish doctors had implanted it when she was just 13 as part of a population control program for thousands of native Greenlandic girls and women.

“I will never have children,” Petersen told The Post, with tears of anger and sorrow welling in her eyes. “That choice was taken from me.”

Fuck Denmark.; 1/20/26, 8:08 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Manifest Destiny to Manifest Enmity to Manifest Indemnity.; 1/20/26, 8:16 AM
Leland said...: I’m just glad to see NATO trying to defend it. They weren’t interested in doing so for decades. Certainly not when Denmark was sterilizing the inhabitants of Greenland.; 1/20/26, 8:16 AM
Jamie said...: I was listening to last week's America This Week yesterday, and Taibbi said something like, "You know 90% of guys are thinking, 'Greenland, hell yeah, sounds good.'" (That isn't a direct quote; the thing I found noteworthy is that he is no neocon, but he sounded... positive on the idea. Not "HELL YEAH!" positive, but "[shrug] sounds good" positive.)

That was quick.; 1/20/26, 8:19 AM
tim maguire said...: I don't see the point. We can get everything we want in terms of control over Greenland without all this messiness. If for some reason, we want to outright own it, we can do that too by showing a little patience.; 1/20/26, 8:22 AM
rehajm said...: The arrangement with Denmark cries out for a more formal declaration of status. The thinking is correct- it is in the best interest of the United States that the arrangement is with the US rather than one of the other power nations, despite their status as less super. I mean pay attention to what China is doing sending trucks of fill to atolls then declaring the areas around them for the Chinese. Greenland looks mighty tasty in that game…; 1/20/26, 8:24 AM
Jaq said...: "Trump's Icebox" would be a better name.; 1/20/26, 8:25 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: The Chairman of the Board of Peace has awarded himself Greenland.

As I understand the argument, Europe doesn’t waste as much money on its military industrial complex as we do, so we should get Greenland.; 1/20/26, 8:26 AM
rehajm said...: Patience sounds like the anti-brexit commons- hey, let’s keep voting until the vote works in our favor, what’s the rush? It could mean President Mandami won’t make taking up the cause a high priority.; 1/20/26, 8:27 AM
Jaq said...: If it gets as warm as it was a thousand years ago, Greenland will be producing beef again the same way it did then. That's not just speculation, BTW, there are still records of beef sales from Greenland, "green" for the ideal cattle pastures.; 1/20/26, 8:28 AM
Achilles said...: Hopefully we can start erasing a lot of the Arbitrary bullshit lines that make up our current political map and cause problems we don't need to have.

"Sovereignty" is just a way for people to pass on inherited titles.

Denmark has no legitimate right to Greenland.; 1/20/26, 8:28 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Everyone is missing the forest for the trees. Greenland's importance is because the "Atlantic Entity" lives there. We need the Atlantic Entity's help in defeating wokism and developing immortality technology so Elon and Trump can live forever and sieze Mars for the United States while keeping the evil Xylon Empire away from the Terran solar system.

Everyone knows this.; 1/20/26, 8:29 AM
Achilles said...: Left Bank of the Charles said...

The Chairman of the Board of Peace has awarded himself Greenland.

As I understand the argument, Europe doesn’t waste as much money on its military industrial complex as we do, so we should get Greenland.

The funny part about this attempt at sarcasm is he actually said something intelligent for once but didn't mean it.; 1/20/26, 8:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Sorry about the misplaced modifier. Classic example of the grammar mistake in the post title. Let that be a lesson to you. To me.; 1/20/26, 8:30 AM
Jaq said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/20/26, 8:32 AM
Kakistocracy said...: If the Arctic is existential for US security, why did we reduce our military presence in Greenland over the years to almost nothing? Did someone ask this guy?

Because we didn’t have unreleased Epstein files and a crashing real economy, so we haven’t needed a distraction of this magnitude in a while to survive the midterms…

Do you think Clinton bombed the Serbs in Bosnia because his heart bled for Bosnians’ suffering or because of a stained blue dress?; 1/20/26, 8:35 AM
G. Poulin said...: We are always living in a movie of one sort or another. It only seems jarring when we have to live in a different movie from the one we've gotten used to. The problem is that the movie we're used to living in has become a horror show/porno flick.
Change is difficult, I know. I feel your pain.; 1/20/26, 8:38 AM
Jaq said...: "As I understand the argument, Europe doesn’t waste as much money on its military industrial complex as we do, so we should get Greenland."

Well, I can't say I strongly disagree with you, but morality has nothing to do with any of it. Just look at how we expanded NATO and the organization that was supposed to ensure peace in Europe has led to war after war, Yugoslavia, Serbia—Under what international law did we create Kosovo? Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine. None of it is about morality. Good on Trump for dropping the mask. Trump had nothing to do with any of those wars, many of which have flooded Europe with refugees, and guess what? Many of those refugees are still pretty steamed at what Europe did to their homes. Wait until Ukrainians figure out how they have been played, if you want angry refugees.

You know why George H. W. Bush had to go? He pulled out of Iraq once Kuwait was liberated, so they ran Ross Perot, and so put Bill Clinton in office, who was willing to play along with their games. But I guess Left Bank prefers Biden's WWIII brinksmanship with the largest nuclear power in the world, because he's more subtle about it; 1/20/26, 8:39 AM
Achilles said...: Jaq said...

Well, I can't say I strongly disagree with you, but morality has nothing to do with any of it. Just look at how we expanded NATO and the organization that was supposed to ensure peace in Europe has led to war after war, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, etc. None of it is about morality. Good on Trump for dropping the mask.

There is no morality in war. None.

People who argue for "peace" are just arguing for a different set of people to be killed.; 1/20/26, 8:40 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: Joke, by someone more clever than me:

On February 14th, the U.S. plays Denmark in Ice Hockey at the Olympics. The winner gets Greenland, the loser gets Minnesota.; 1/20/26, 8:40 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: @G. Poulin,

Worst. Porno. Ever.; 1/20/26, 8:40 AM
Big Mike said...: I was just now reading on Instapundit that Germany sent troops on Friday, got their tariffs raised by Trump on Saturday, and brought the troops home on Sunday. Sounds about right.

I don’t quite see the point of Greenland as a US territory, but I’m aware that the President of the United States receives information that I will never see. If not having Greenland keeps the President of the United States awake at night, we absolutely should acquire it.

Eff the Danes, eff the Dumbocrats, eff the New York Times and the Washington Post, to Hell with what Annie Althouse thinks, and to Hell with the rest of you. Go get it, President Trump.; 1/20/26, 8:41 AM
Enigma said...: @Kaki: If the Arctic is existential for US security, why did we reduce our military presence in Greenland over the years to almost nothing? Did someone ask this guy?

Add this to the long list of partisan things not understood because cognitive dissonance or willful blindness.

Why did Carter give away the Panama Canal?

Why did Bill Clinton feast on the "Peace Dividend" when we still had plenty of debt?

Why did Obama literally bow to foreign leaders?

Why did Biden allow himself to be a puppet for his AutoPen masters?; 1/20/26, 8:42 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Poor Pete Hegseth didn’t make the cut for the meme.; 1/20/26, 8:45 AM
Jaq said...: "People who argue for "peace" are just arguing for a different set of people to be killed."

Sadly, this seems to be the inescapable conclusion you reach if you follow these wars too closely.

I started out trying to understand how I had been manipulated into supporting W's Iraq war, at this point, I am catching up with Mearsheimer's line that geopolitics is tragic, and that structural realism is probably correct, and that means that there will never be an end to war.

I think that there was a Roman who said that one of the surest signs that war, trouble and strife are coming is the discovery of great wealth.; 1/20/26, 8:45 AM
Aggie said...: The deal is mostly done, I think. Europe has sent troops as a way of saving face, and is now withdrawing them, Germans first. I think we will end up with something like this: The formal agreements stay the same, but the actual working relationship is changed.

Greenland will slowly and quietly begin developing ports and airports, and then heavy industry will gradually take an interest in mining and exports - after the incremental military expansion by the US, updating listening posts, ensuring military port facilities for subs and icebreakers, and renewed vigor in routine missions that happen to call on Greenland. There's not going to be any need for US ownership, per se. We have a good, long-term constructive relationship with Denmark, and they have an interest in preserving this with the US, because of their proximity to Russia.; 1/20/26, 8:49 AM
John henry said...: There was a 1959 movie with Peter Sellers and Jean Seberg called "The Mouse that roared" Full movie is on youtube.

Last time I saw it, I think was in 1961 on the very first date I ever had with a girl. So forgive me if I don't remember it clearly.

But I did look it up in Wikipedia and the main plot point is as I remember.

The tiny Grand Duchy of Fenwick is in trouble so they decide to declare war on the US. The idea is to lose the war and the US will come in with a Marshall Plan and shower wealth on the duchy.

I've been thinking of this for the past few weeks. Perhaps Greenland, or even better Denmark, should declare war on the US, lose and then reap the bennies.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 8:51 AM
Achilles said...: Jaq said...

I think that there was a Roman who said that one of the surest signs that war, trouble and strife are coming is the discovery of great wealth.

Someone is going to take Greenland.

If Denmark "owns" Greenland there will be a much much higher chance of conflict.

Imagine what a feckless corrupt shithead like Biden would do if Russian used their Ice Breaker fleet to create a base on Greenland or if Denmark made a deal with China to let China open up some Rare Earth strip mines.

If you actually want peace and you don't want a war to occur over Greenland there is one obvious path.

It is not letting a weak de-industrialized soon to be Muslim country auction it off to the highest bidder so they can have free health care.; 1/20/26, 8:51 AM
Beasts of England said...: The most important diplomatic question: will Greenland get a Buc-ee’s?; 1/20/26, 8:52 AM
John henry said...: Putin said that President Trump should take over Denmark. Or maybe he said that is what Trump is planning.

Now that he has planted the seed, I am liking the idea. Why just Greenland? Take over the whole megillah.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 8:53 AM
Jaq said...: I read an interesting book one time about the economics of colonial North America when it was first being settled, and the Indians had a kind of natural form of birth control, for several weeks each winter, food would become very scarce, and pregnant women would lose their babies and women who weren't pregnant would become temporarily infertile. Colonials would ask the Indians how they lived like this, with the hunger, the population control aspect was not understood, and they just shrugged, and said that it didn't kill you go go hungry for a little while. That is not to say that it is up to the colonial masters, in this case Denmark, to arrogate the role that Nature played to themselves.; 1/20/26, 8:53 AM
Howard said...: The poster of Big kahuna planting Old Glory into the soil of Greenland accompanied by Tweedledee and Tweedledum reminds me of those staged photos of city leaders wearing shiny white hard hats holding shovels at the beginning of a publicly funded construction boondoggle.; 1/20/26, 8:55 AM
Limited blogger said...: Greenland is getting their 15 minutes.; 1/20/26, 8:57 AM
Rustygrommet said...: "I don't see the point?"
WW3 is going to be fought over the arctic. Both Russia and China are maneuvering to fight a war in the high arctic. Owning Greenland denies our enemies easy access to us.; 1/20/26, 8:58 AM
John henry said...: Achilles said...

Europe sent a total of 15 troops to "defend" Greenland.
34 actually. But Sunday, the day after President Trump threatened tariffs, Germany pulled theirs out. So down to 19 total, I think.

I saw a picture where the Brits and French were building invasion barriers of Danish cookie cans left over from Christmas.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 8:59 AM
Jaq said...: "f Russian used their Ice Breaker fleet to create a base on Greenland"

Just as an aside, the St Lawrence Seaway is closed due to ice, in the past we called up Russia and they sent their icebreakers to clear it, but now, well sanctions.

Another funny thing is that we had a pretty good icebreaker on the Great Lakes, the Mackinaw, I saw it once, we were sailing near Buffalo on Lake Erie, and it was pretty cool, but that's not the story, the story is that when the Mackinaw was replaced, they "looked at the science'" and "figured out" that they didn't need as much muscle in their icebreakers anymore, so the new Mackinaw is not really fit for service, it's underpowered.

We are just ruled by idiots who drink their own kool aide.; 1/20/26, 9:00 AM
Peachy said...: OT : We do not hate the NYT(D), enough.; 1/20/26, 9:01 AM
Achilles said...: Aggie said...

There's not going to be any need for US ownership, per se. We have a good, long-term constructive relationship with Denmark, and they have an interest in preserving this with the US, because of their proximity to Russia.

The relationship with Europe needs to be reset.

They are not equals. They are spoiled brats who got millions of people killed in their stupid little wars for the last several centuries. They haven't lived up to their NATO obligations. They spent their money on welfare programs instead of defense and aren't having enough children to replace themselves. They are going to be Muslim countries soon.

Europe doesn't have serious leadership which reflects on the people who live there. Europe is not adult.

China is the alternate to US hegemony and our only real competitor in the great power struggles. All foreign policy should be framed from the lens of that reality.

Russia is an adult country with adult people and adult leadership. We should be working with Russia if we actually want peace in the world balancing the US against China.; 1/20/26, 9:01 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Germany pulled theirs out. So down to 19 total, I think.’

Does that include Greta?; 1/20/26, 9:01 AM
Howard said...: Russia is a country of overlay proud alcoholics who are always whining about coulda shoulda woulda that's why they enjoy being ruled by a ruthless murdering strong man who will stop at nothing to retain power. All business and economic opportunities are run on graft corruption bribery murder and mayhem.

It's time to grow up and join the human race, Achilles.; 1/20/26, 9:05 AM
tim maguire said...: Rustygrommet said...
"I don't see the point?"
WW3 is going to be fought over the arctic...

Try reading past my first sentence.; 1/20/26, 9:07 AM
Howard said...: Actually, Beasts of England, Greta is working tirelessly to regrow the Arctic ice so that we don't even need Greenland as a strategic base of operations against the Asian Huns anymore.; 1/20/26, 9:07 AM
Jaq said...: Liars keep telling us that the Arctic is opening due to "Global Warming" but it really opened only twice, in two consecutive years, almost 20 years ago, and before 1978 and the satellite era, we have no idea how often it was open, it was very warm in the '30s, for example.

What is opening the Arctic is Russian nuclear powered icebreakers, and it's opening a "new Silk Road" between the Far East and Northern Europe that is over a week shorter than the traditional shipping routes.We should be building these right this minute.

the other part of the New Silk Road is the north south connection of Russia and China to India through Iran, and eventuality that we feel like we need to stop at any cost, even sending the "terrorist organization that only attacks enemies of the CIA" that is ISIS to "demonstrate" on the streets of Iran with military grade weapons, BTW. Not to mention that we did an attack on their currency, Soros style, to create dissatisfaction.

This is the game that is underway, it never stops, Alexander the Great was playing it, the Trojan War probably was based on a play for control of the choke point to the Black Sea and trade to Asia, history is full of these kinds of plays for squares on the "Grand Chessboard."; 1/20/26, 9:08 AM
Howard said...: People who don't understand the importance of Greenland likely don't understand the concept of the great circle routes of travel.; 1/20/26, 9:08 AM
Jaq said...: "Russia is a country of overlay proud alcoholics who are always whining about coulda shoulda woulda that's why they enjoy being ruled by a ruthless murdering strong man who will stop at nothing to retain power. All business and economic opportunities are run on graft corruption bribery murder and mayhem"

Do you get a gold star when you repeat your catechism flawlessly?; 1/20/26, 9:09 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Actually, Beasts of England, Greta is working tirelessly to regrow the Arctic ice so that we don't even need Greenland…’

That’s quite impressive! I didn’t know she was into long-term strategery like that…; 1/20/26, 9:09 AM
Enigma said...: Europeans today are the cultural leftovers after 500 years of exploration and emigration -- the bravest and boldest were the first to move away. Next, they are the leftovers after the brave ones who stayed killed each other in WW1 and WW2. It is now a cultural place where fearful women and men who don't like to get their hands dirty set the tone.

"I'll get very cross with you if you don't behave!!!"

Europe's economy is in large part a tourist museum staffed by Islamic servants. This is yet another chapter of the Moorish conquest of Spain and the Crusades.; 1/20/26, 9:10 AM
John henry said...: We saw last week why we need to own Greenland, not just lease bases there.

We have a good relationship with the UAE and have a big base there for Middle East operations.

But UAE just kicked us out to prevent US actions in Iran.

So now what do we do?

John Henry; 1/20/26, 9:10 AM
bagoh20 said...: We need to cut to the chase and conquer Europe before somebody else does. We could land Trump on Normandy and he could say BOO! That should do it.; 1/20/26, 9:12 AM
Howard said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/20/26, 9:12 AM
Achilles said...: John henry said...

Putin said that President Trump should take over Denmark. Or maybe he said that is what Trump is planning.

Now that he has planted the seed, I am liking the idea. Why just Greenland? Take over the whole megillah.

John Henry

We already occupy Europe. Europe has been America's bitch since WWII.

On the world financial stage there is the European WEF contingent and the New York Bankers who are distinct actors.

Europe has shit economic growth for a lot of reasons but one of them is that the Fed owns Europe now. The Fed Reserve Balance sheet is going to be littered with European buyouts if we ever get to see it.

Europe is a hollow continent. They have no productivity anymore. They could barely deploy 15 troops outside their borders.

I think Trump is teaching the world a lesson with pictures like this.; 1/20/26, 9:12 AM
Jaq said...: We have driven Russia and China into each other's arms, but what is happening to Europe is an object lesson in becoming overdependent, In other words, the Russians don't really want to be in Europe's shoes with China, and Trump knows this, but we instead keep pursuing a war against our own interests, and Europe does the same even more so.; 1/20/26, 9:13 AM
Howard said...: The ice is opening up due to industrial pollution. Both carbon dioxide and particulate matter. Take a look at how black the Greenland ice sheets are. The very same albedo process works on the Arctic ice as well which may be more significant than carbon dioxide related climate change.

Black zones on the Greenland ice sheet are caused by deposited soot (black carbon) from wildfires and fossil fuels, dust, and light-absorbing algae/microbes, which darken the surface, reduce its reflectivity (albedo), and accelerate solar absorption and melting, contributing significantly to sea-level rise. These dark patches form due to atmospheric transport of pollutants and biological growth in meltwater, creating a feedback loop that speeds up ice loss and has major global implications.; 1/20/26, 9:13 AM
John henry said...: Jaq,

Actually the arctic used to be (still is?) open to navigation. In the 1960s when Prudhoe bay oil was discovered in Northern Alaska, one of the plans was to carry it across the arctic via tanker. The SS Manhattan was modified to do this and made a successful voyage.

In the end, a pipeline to Valdez was built, the oil was shipped to Japan and the Japanese freed up Saudi oil to be shipped to the US east coast.

But it was feasible as a shipping route. Not great, but feasible.

And 5 years from now when the ice cap is completely melted, it will be even better!

John Henry; 1/20/26, 9:15 AM
Jaq said...: "But UAE just kicked us out to prevent US actions in Iran."

Because Iran carefully explained that they would close down the Persian Gulf before they would willingly become a vassal of the United States, or even worse, those pussies in Europe.; 1/20/26, 9:15 AM
RoseAnne said...: When Trump first mentioned Greenland, I took it as something not to be taken literally. When I read of Denmark's forced sterilization program in Greenland, my opinion changed. Achilles has already said it better than I ever could. This morning, I read I read of Greenland's place in a potential Gold Dome scenario and things are beginning to make sense.; 1/20/26, 9:16 AM
Jaq said...: "And 5 years from now when the ice cap is completely melted, it will be even better!"

I am going to assume this is a joke, but what could we have in five years? A solid start on a fleet of nuclear icebreakers. If Russia can build them, America certainly can. Bath Iron Works in Maine for the win!; 1/20/26, 9:17 AM
John henry said...: Howard said...

The ice is opening up due to industrial pollution. Both carbon dioxide and particulate matter.

Just 5 more years and the Arctic will be completely melted, right Howard?

John Henry; 1/20/26, 9:18 AM
Jaq said...: "The ice is opening up due to industrial pollution. "

How many times in the satellite era has the passage opened. AI told me twice, 20 years ago, but it obviously could be mistaken.; 1/20/26, 9:19 AM
John henry said...: Jaq said...

Because Iran carefully explained that they would close down the Persian Gulf before they would willingly become a vassal of the United States, or even worse, those pussies in Europe.

Yup. And I don't really disagree with UAE doing this. If I was UAE I might do the same thing.

I was pointing out the difference between a treaty or agreement about bases and ownership.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 9:21 AM
Howard said...: You need to ask that question of Elon Musk, John Henry. It's one reason he is building a rocket ship to Mars.

Last I heard he is more concerned about the 1,000 part per million threshold as a proxy for climate disaster. Meaning that it's not a 5-year problem it's a 50-year problem.

That has always been my position. If you look at The archives of the Climate Audit blog you will see my comments there very consistent regarding my longer term outlook on climate change.; 1/20/26, 9:25 AM
Howard said...: Oh yes, in those days I was very much considered a climate denier by the Real Climate consensus brotherhood of academic nincompoops; 1/20/26, 9:27 AM
Jaq said...: I gotta stop commenting today, for my own sanity, and balance on the blog, so I withheld the one, John Henry, where I said that your argument is actually not really refutable. There are no permanent friends in geopolitics, just permanent interests.; 1/20/26, 9:28 AM
Meade said...: Kakistocracy said...
“Do you think Clinton bombed the Serbs in Bosnia because his heart bled for Bosnians’ suffering or because of a stained blue dress?”

Check your chronology. Clinton stopped bombing the Serbians years before he started splooging the help.; 1/20/26, 9:33 AM
Iman said...: When accountability declines, predators prosper.; 1/20/26, 9:35 AM
Howard said...: There is only self-interest, Tim; 1/20/26, 9:35 AM
tim maguire said...: Meade said...Check your chronology.

Kak is confusing Bosnia with the Sudan, which Clinton did bomb to distract from his domestic scandals.; 1/20/26, 9:36 AM
john mosby said...: bagoh20: "We could land Trump on Normandy and he could say BOO! That should do it."

I had a vision of a beachhead with hundreds of Baby Trump barrage balloons floating over the ships....CC, JSM; 1/20/26, 9:41 AM
bagoh20 said...: "Clinton stopped bombing the Serbians years before he started splooging the help."

How do we know when he started? He had a stoogie reputation going way back. I blame Hillary. He pissed her off for sport.; 1/20/26, 9:44 AM
Jaq said...: OK, one more, last one, I promise, but I think that the attack on Qatar by Israel, which we were complicit in when we had signed an agreement to defend Qatar, had something to do with the UAE decision too. I think that the local commander of the region OK'd that attack while Trump was negotiating and Israel tried to kill the very same persons with whom Trump was actively negotiating.

This might have been a similar deal with the attempt on Putin's life, Trump may not have known, and it may have been done to poison the well, and it seems to have worked, I don't think that Putin has agreed to meet with Trump's negotiators. The same thing happened in Iran, BTW, the people that Trump was negotiating with were attacked, and many of them killed.

The message is "negotiate all you want, Donnie, but you don't control anything." and I think that Trump got the message loud and clear, and now gives zero f*cks what they think.; 1/20/26, 9:45 AM
John henry said...: Howard,

I live in Puerto Rico, next to a huge thermostat called the Atlantic/Caribbean ocean (the division is right in front of my house) So very stable temperatures.

On a typical day we have have a 20 degree temperature swing. 70-90 in summer, 65-85 winter.

Up north, you have considerably more. probably 75-100 degrees over the course of the year in most of the US.

We adapt just fine to changing temperatures.

That assumes that there is some kind of long term temperature trend. There well may be. Lots of people say there is. But temperatures are calculated, not measured. Depending on how you jigger the math you can get warming, cooling or something else.

And they won't tell you how they are calculated. They use shifting thermometers, many of which have many problems. Some as simple as deterioration of the paint on the enclosures.

So when they say temps are up by 0.029 degrees!!! my first question is "Plus or minus how much?" If they would tell me that earth has warmed by 0.029 degrees plus or minus 5 degrees. I might believe them.

But they try to tell me 0.029+/-0, dead nuts, (or whatever the number is on a given day) and I say they are full of shit. I would not believe that even in an extremely high quality laboratory using the best gear in a carefully controlled measurement. There is ALWAYS a +/-.

Per Grok, the master thermometer at Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) in Paris, to which all lab grade thermometers are traceable, is ±0.1 to ±0.2 mK. And every time you go down a step, to the US NIST standard, then to a calibration lab standard, then to lab reference thermometers and so on, the uncertaintly gets wider.

John Henry

1 degree Kelvin = 1 degree Centigrade/Celsius; 1/20/26, 9:48 AM
jim5301 said...: It's not gonna happen. So I guess we'll quit NATO and stop supporting Ukraine. Gee, I wonder who is really is behind it. Give me a P.; 1/20/26, 10:00 AM
Freder Frederson said...: 1 degree Kelvin = 1 degree Centigrade/Celsius

1mK=.001 degree Celsius. So .029 (if your number is correct) is well within above the detection limit.; 1/20/26, 10:01 AM
Big Mike said...: Does that include Greta?

@Beasts, point of information. She’s not a German.; 1/20/26, 10:01 AM
john mosby said...: Jaq, just to clarify: are you saying local American commanders ok'd those spoiling attacks? CC, JSM; 1/20/26, 10:01 AM
Joe Bar said...: Does anyone else think this is just a big distraction, a deception plan? I get the feeling that something else is going on that we are not seeing.; 1/20/26, 10:03 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: Howard said...
"Russia is a country of overly proud alcoholics..."

Back when I was chasing women, I went out with a couple of Russian gals. They and their friends had pretty much all left Russia because the men were a bunch of worthless, violent drunks. If they could stay sober, they probably would have taken over the world. Vodka is our friend.; 1/20/26, 10:10 AM
Hassayamper said...: Does anyone else think this is just a big distraction, a deception plan? I get the feeling that something else is going on that we are not seeing.

I'm curious too. He is spending an inordinate amount of time on this - and mightily pissing off the Europeans (not that that's necessarily a bad thing) - for remarkably little benefit that I can see, or at least none that we couldn't have achieved with existing or modified defense agreements with the Danes.

I think it's possible he sees Europe becoming a hostile Muslim caliphate in the next 20-30 years, and wants to make sure we have the forward-positioned means to destroy Europe's entire military establishment in a hurry. A nuclear-armed Muslim Europe would be the stuff of nightmares.; 1/20/26, 10:11 AM
Birches said...: I have not cared at all about Greenland or people pearl clutching over Trump's rhetoric until now. Trump should never release private messages. It's scumbag behavior.; 1/20/26, 10:22 AM
Freder Frederson said...: I think it's possible he sees Europe becoming a hostile Muslim caliphate in the next 20-30 years, and wants to make sure we have the forward-positioned means to destroy Europe's entire military establishment in a hurry. A nuclear-armed Muslim Europe would be the stuff of nightmares.

Or maybe, just maybe, he is batshit crazy and sinking further and quickly into dementia.; 1/20/26, 10:24 AM
Maynard said...: The relationship with Europe needs to be reset.

That is obviously what Trump is trying to do. Thus, the intensity of the resistance.; 1/20/26, 10:35 AM
John henry said...: Freder Frederson said...

1mK=.001 degree Celsius. So .029 (if your number is correct) is well within above the detection limit.

I don't know what this "detection limit" is that you mention. It is a precision/accuracy range. It is also a single thermometer (or measuring device) in Paris. Thermometers for measuring weather in actual use are 4-5 generations removed from the standard. So much greater range. I was making the point that even under as nearly perfect conditions as possible, there is still a +/-

That also assumes that the thermometers are 1) Good quality, both accurate and precise and 2) Calibrated traceable to the Paris standard. A lot of the thermometers used were not and are not.

The other problem, ignoring precision, is how you get the average temperature for a single point. Do I measure every hour precisely on the hour? What happens if I miss a measurement? What happens if I take the 1400 measurement at 1407? Maybe I just combine the day high and low and say that is the average. Maybe I take the temp every second and average.

All 3 methods are OK and close enough for normal meteorlogical use. All will give slightly different results for the same readings. All 3 have been widely used. How do you compare them?

And that is for just a single point with measurement taken by someone who knows how to read a thermometer.

And so on.

Nope, I don't think anyone has any idea to within +/- 5deg what the world's temperature is. I think I am being generous with 5. It could be double that. Especially over time.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 10:36 AM
William said...: My mother's family was born in Denmark but emigrated from Germany. If Bismarck could do it, why can't Trump?.......I can locate Greenland on the map. It's hard to miss, but up until very recently I don't think I ever gave it two thoughts. Well, if Mercator can give it out sized importance, why can Trump?......I bet no one here without looking can say what language they speak in Greenland. It's some kind of Inuit dialect. The children learn English and Danish in school.; 1/20/26, 10:43 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Anything that makes libtards unhappy, I support.; 1/20/26, 10:44 AM
jim said...: Well, maybe there's a good side to Trump driving the world into the arms of China: the world gets a dose of something even worse.; 1/20/26, 10:47 AM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Look! Over here,no over here...c'mon man ,your falling into the flim flam,Pay attention; 1/20/26, 10:47 AM
doctrev said...: Jaq said...

The message is "negotiate all you want, Donnie, but you don't control anything." and I think that Trump got the message loud and clear, and now gives zero f*cks what they think.

1/20/26, 9:45 AM

You have a certain fixation on the binary. Either President Trump has to punish Israel, or is controlled by the Jews. Either Arab states are vassals or they're expelling American soldiers. None of those things have to be true, especially with a President who loves equivocation. Sure Iran can "close" the Straits, but I can't think of anything that would make the Arabs- and China- more quickly support Iranian regime change. For a country with a supposedly indomitable industrial base, Iran certainly has major problems in its primary city.

But at least they're doing better than Europe.; 1/20/26, 10:51 AM
Achilles said...: Howard said...
Russia is a country of overlay proud alcoholics who are always whining about coulda shoulda woulda that's why they enjoy being ruled by a ruthless murdering strong man who will stop at nothing to retain power. All business and economic opportunities are run on graft corruption bribery murder and mayhem.

It's time to grow up and join the human race, Achilles.

That puts Russia one step above Maidan Ukrainians.

You are almost there Howard. Keep climbing the ladder.

I think any efforts to make Russia a democracy are destined for failure and they will just install a Putin style figure for the reasons you mentioned. Most people in the world are not capable of choosing their leaders and they will end up being ruled by the most capable and ruthless among them.

The Russian people are at least aware of their limitations and have settled on adult leadership.

The people of Europe however are pathetic children and the rulers of Europe reflect their cringy stupidity and hedonism mixed with a psychopathic need to invade Russia.; 1/20/26, 10:53 AM
Leland said...: Responding to Tim @8:22.

I normally would agree with your sentiment. However, things can happen quickly. Let’s look at the strategically important Chagos islands, which houses the US Diego Garcia base. In 2019, the International Court of Justice ruled that “decolonization” had not fully and lawfully occurred on the Island. The UK government subsequently decided in 2022, responding to the ruling, to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, and a treaty making that happen was signed in May of last year.

How long before the EU forces Denmark to give up sovereignty of Greenland, and without anything else happening, the inhabitants decide to kick out the US for preferred trade with Russia or China?; 1/20/26, 10:57 AM
Achilles said...: hawkeyedjb said...
Howard said...
"Russia is a country of overly proud alcoholics..."

Back when I was chasing women, I went out with a couple of Russian gals. They and their friends had pretty much all left Russia because the men were a bunch of worthless, violent drunks. If they could stay sober, they probably would have taken over the world. Vodka is our friend.

There is a very fine line between worthless violent drunks and Ranger Battalion.

The effort should be put forward to understand that difference.; 1/20/26, 10:59 AM
hombre said...: It would be a relief if he would quit poking people. But then he wouldn’t be Trump.; 1/20/26, 10:59 AM
Old and slow said...: It’s a flipping comedy, much to my surprise, I’m really enjoying it.; 1/20/26, 11:03 AM
Howard said...: I agree, Achilles, that we are better off with a prosperous thriving Russia. However, that country has been gutted and turned into hamburger. The brain drain since the fall of Soviet Union is irreversible. Much of the problem was the Western response after the Cold War. A certain amount of appeasement to Putin may be necessary, but the West won't let him have the whole of Ukraine.

Lots of sunk costs on both sides are very difficult to write off. A sticky wicket.; 1/20/26, 11:05 AM
John henry said...: Iceland used to be part of Denmark. During WWII when the Danes surrendered, the Brits invaded it to prevent the Germans from getting it. It was essential as a big aircraft carrier to prevent convoy attacks.

Later, while the US was still neutral (koff, koff, wink, wink) we invaded and occupied it with about 4,000 marines, eventually augmenting to 30m by 1943.

This freed the British troops to get killed in Africa.

Maybe we should not have given it back? Maybe President Trump should retake Iceland along with Greenland and Denmark.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 11:05 AM
Howard said...: I mean, you just can't expect a bunch of ignorant peons to understand a machine like some of our boys. And that's not meant as an insult, Mr. Ambassador, I mean, you take your average Russkie, we all know how much guts he's got. Hell, lookit all them Nazis killed off and they still wouldn't quit.; 1/20/26, 11:07 AM
Achilles said...: jim5301 said...
It's not gonna happen. So I guess we'll quit NATO and stop supporting Ukraine. Gee, I wonder who is really is behind it. Give me a P.

A stupid person would say this.

Reality is that China is the only real competitor to the United States in the world and the only real threat to our interests.

Russia is an adult country that has been honest about their motivations and interests. They would happily align with the United States if we just stopped supporting Europes attempts to invade Russia.

The people of Ukraine wanted peace with Russia and elected a government that reflected that. We replaced that government with a coup in 2014 and an election in 2016 while the Maidan were killing Russian ethnics and Christian Orthodox in eastern Ukraine.

The people who throw out the Putin puppet bullshit are just dishonest warmongers.; 1/20/26, 11:08 AM
AMDG said...: An interview with the NYT Trump clearly reveals that his motive for wanting Denmark has nothing to do with National Security and everything to do with his megalomania:

David E. Sanger: In Greenland, we had START. In the 1951 agreement, though, it says the United States can reopen these bases anytime you want. You can send as many troops as you want.

President Trump: That’s right.

Sanger: And you haven’t done it. How come?

Trump: Because I want to do it properly.
Sanger: And properly means own it?

Trump: Really it is, to me, it’s ownership. Ownership is very important.

Sanger: Why is ownership important here?

Trump: Because that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for success. I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do, whether you’re talking about a lease or a treaty. Ownership gives you things and elements that you can’t get from just signing a document, that you can have a base.

Katie Rogers: Psychologically important to you or to the United States?

Trump: Psychologically important for me. Now, maybe another president would feel differently, but so far I’ve been right about everything.; 1/20/26, 11:13 AM
n.n said...: Go Green... land.; 1/20/26, 11:18 AM
Hassayamper said...: The people who insisted that Trump said to drink bleach, in other words, the people who have been lying about Trump for a decade.

I'm in the health care business, and dilute bleach solutions are routinely used. It's called Dakin's Solution, used to clean out the chest cavity after lung surgery, or for dressing healing wounds. The Russians have used it as an inhaled aerosol for viral respiratory infections going back to the 50's or 60's.

There is also a device called the Healight, developed by researchers in the MAST group at Cedars-Sinai, and now in clinical trials with a company called Aytu Biopharma. It applies ultraviolet light to the trachea and bronchi via a catheter advanced into the airways through a bronchoscope. They started a crash program to try it for COVID infections in 2020 just before Trump was talking about using UV light for this purpose, and as of 2022, preliminary studies had shown some encouraging success.

Of course, the notion that Trump might be correct drove the scientifically ignorant journalists and other dopey lefty midwits berserk, and the Cedars docs got heavy criticism and even a few death threats. The 24-year-old communications-major girls in charge of thoughtcrime censorship at YouTube and Twitter even yanked Aytu Biopharma's videos, calling them "disinformation", even though the device had been in development at a prestigious university hospital for several years beforehand.

More proof that leftists are categorically, canonically, ontologically evil scum and vermin, so warped by their hatred for Trump that they are willing to let sick people suffer and die rather than allow him a political victory.; 1/20/26, 11:20 AM
Jaq said...: I don't know about my binary thinking, except when it comes to things that everybody agrees on all sides did happen, or didn't happen. But I do know that twice Israel attacked and attempted to kill persons with whom Trump was actively negotiating.

It's not treason for the head of state to negotiate with hostile parties, it's his f*cking job, I don't know who ordered the US military, which had committed via treaty to protect the airspace to stand down while Israeli F-35s conducted a strike, the planes are hard to pinpoint at a distance, du to stealth, but they are not invisible like Wonder Woman's airplane. These are simple facts, and there is a pattern, you know, once is an incident, two are a coincidence, and three, that would be when the CIA tried to kill Putin while Trump had him on the phone, well that's enemy action, according to the proverb.

So if you are drawing the conclusion from it that Trump is Israel's bitch, that's your conclusion, I just mentioned some stuff everybody agrees happened, except the CIA only says that they were attacking some target they refuse to identify that was near where they though Putin was, and where his common-law wife and children live permanently.

If one were to speculate on the pattern, one might conclude that there is a deep state, other people like Vindman, in the military and the CIA, out to thwart Trump's negotiations.; 1/20/26, 11:34 AM
wildswan said...: "Jaq said...
I read an interesting book one time about the economics of colonial North America when it was first being settled, and the Indians had a kind of natural form of birth control, for several weeks each winter, food would become very scarce"

Jaq I wonder which tribes you are talking about. Tribes which grew corn were able to get through the winter without extreme hunger. The ability to grow corn depended on the women of the tribe developing a variety suited to the soil and climate. So corn came slowly north as the shorter summers required corn which reached maturity sooner than varieties suited to southern climates. The Contoocook tribes of New Hampshire were the furthest northern tribe in New England which was able to grow corn. The Abenakis of Maine used to attack in order to steal New Hampshire corn rather than quietly accepting starvation. The Iroquois had ten miles of fields of corn around their major villages and this food supply is one of the reasons they were able to league together and launch major attacks on the other tribes. But the tribes of the Great Lakes were not growing corn in the 17th century and they indeed starved in the winter. But we know corn can be grown in that area, in Wisconsin, for example. It's just that the tribal women had not yet developed a variety adapted to the short growing season and the glacial deposit soil.
Still, your main point - that there was a form of natural birth control which kept down tribal numbers among those tribes without a reliable agricultural base - may be correct. the demography of the North American tribes is a subject in which the figures are even less reliable than those produced by a Minnesota state accountant. Yet the question is quite important for an understanding of America under the tribes.; 1/20/26, 11:35 AM
Hassayamper said...: 1mK=.001 degree Celsius. So .029 (if your number is correct) is well within above the detection limit.

Do you know what an "error bar" or "standard deviation" is, you dimwitted commie?; 1/20/26, 11:39 AM
FullMoon said...: Freder Frederson said...
I think it's possible he sees Europe becoming a hostile Muslim caliphate in the next 20-30 years, and wants to make sure we have the forward-positioned means to destroy Europe's entire military establishment in a hurry. A nuclear-armed Muslim Europe would be the stuff of nightmares.

Ironically Or maybe, just maybe, he is batshit crazy and sinking further and quickly into dementia.; 1/20/26, 11:40 AM
Hassayamper said...: As I understand the argument, Europe doesn’t waste as much money on its military industrial complex as we do, so we should get Greenland.

Now that you mention it, maybe he's trying to save us money by having our troops kicked out of Europe. The Uniparty filth in Congress would never vote to close our bases there, but if the Europeans themselves tell us to get lost, they can hardly refuse.

What a kick in the balls for the corrupt Beltway Bandits and their Deep State myrmidons and their cronies in the military-industrial complex. The more I contemplate it, the more I think it's genius!

I have long been in favor of closing all our bases in Europe, bringing every serviceman home except for Marine embassy guards, and leaving the Eurotrash to the tender mercies of of the Russians and Chinese. I believed this when Donald Trump wasn't even a game show host, much less a politician. Perhaps this is his aikido move to shove it down the throat of the corrupt Deep State globalist traitor scum. We'll save trillions of dollars over the next decade or two.; 1/20/26, 12:04 PM
John henry said...: Hassayampa,

I drink bleach daily and have for most of my 78 years. I credit it with long life.

It is a very dilute bleach. I like it so much that I have a dozen faucets in my house that allow me to drink as much as I want any time.

John Henry; 1/20/26, 12:10 PM
Readering said...: It's pretty clear that a college chum who is a rich guy put the idea of aquiring Greenland as a real estate play to the real estate guy's head. There have never been national security published proposals. Because US can do what it wants to secure Greenland from the Russians and Chinese who have much more real national security interests elsewhere. There's a reason Finland and Sweden recently joined NATO, and already had impressive military budgets.

I have nothing against a willing Denmark and Greenland going the way of the US Virgin Islands in WW1, but it was rejected then. And rejected again when Truman floated it after WW2. It has been rejected again, and it is looney tunes what Trump is doing.; 1/20/26, 12:32 PM
Rustygrommet said...: But, Tim. When you own something you don't have to ask anyone's permission to use it.
The question I have is whether Greenland is worth the price of ownership.
My question is; Why has Canada let the Chinese use their arctic to stage war games?
Does owning Greenland make sense now?; 1/20/26, 1:13 PM
Achilles said...: Readering said...
It's pretty clear that a college chum who is a rich guy put the idea of aquiring Greenland as a real estate play to the real estate guy's head.

It is pretty clear Trump is not as stupid as you are.; 1/20/26, 1:18 PM
bagoh20 said...: " ...it was rejected then. And rejected again when Truman floated it after WW2. It has been rejected again, and it is looney tunes what Trump is doing."

It would be if he did the same thing again, but it's Trump, so no. The strategic importance of Greenland has to be many times what it was before ballistic missiles, so it's not really the same cost/benefit picture at all. It's also no longer the age of Danish naval prowess and imperialism where owning far away lands to exploit the natives was a thing. The world let Denmark play imperial power long enough now.; 1/20/26, 1:51 PM
Rosalyn C. said...: I was thinking that Greenland might eventually become a territory like Puerto Rico, not an actual state. Still relatively independent. The Greenlanders could decide they want to be independent from Denmark, that's already an option which Denmark accepted. And then the people in Greenland could consider the benefits of being US citizens.
I don't know anything about how Puerto Ricans feel about their arrangement with the US but I am curious.; 1/20/26, 2:18 PM
Jaq said...: Wildswan, if I can lay my hands on the book, I will be sure to mention the title and author here, I think that you would enjoy it. But yes, the book took on the economics of New England and New York colonial interactions with the tribes in the decades of contact, and it took the tribes and colonies case by case. It was not a global assessment, and I think that I lost the book before I finished it, but I didn't get to the Iroquois part, but in Greenland we are talking about Inuit. Nanook of the North died of starvation within a couple of years of making that famous movie which as a boy, made a deep impression on me, and I have been saddened every time I think about that, he was kind of a hero of mine.; 1/20/26, 4:01 PM
Jim at said...: Or maybe, just maybe, he is batshit crazy and sinking further and quickly into dementia.

Maybe, just maybe, Biden voters should shut their yaps when it comes to a president's mental health.; 1/20/26, 4:59 PM
Political Junkie said...: Greenland deal...here goes....DJT and/or R leaning billionaires donate $57 billion to buy Greenland as a gift to the USA. Each Greenlander gets 1 million buckaroos.
Win, win, win. The Art of the Deal. KISS.; 1/20/26, 7:20 PM
JIM said...: Democrats can barge uninvited into a church during a service without apology or consequence but wet themselves when Trump makes overtures toward Greenland.
The beauty of the Democrat party is the ability to say one thing and violate that one thing without ever seeing the hypocrisy.; 1/20/26, 8:10 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’@Beasts, point of information. She’s not a German.’

True, but I can’t see her missing out on a protest! lol; 1/20/26, 8:47 PM