"It took just 75 minutes for President Trump to get what he wanted out of the European Union."

"That’s how long he and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were away from the cameras. When they returned, Trump was triumphant. Europe agreed to buy $750 billion in American energy products, invest $600 billion in new money in the US and purchase additional US military equipment, according to the terms of the preliminary agreement. Tariffs on many American exports will drop to zero. Duties on most European goods coming into the US rise to 15%. 'I think it’s the biggest deal ever made,' Trump proclaimed."

The New York Post reports.

"On immigration, you better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore. You got to get your act together."

"You know, last month, we had nobody entering our country. Nobody. Shut it down.... We took out a lot of bad people that got there with Biden. Biden was a total stiff. And what he allowed to happen, but you’re allowing it to happen to your countries. And you got to stop this horrible invasion that’s happening to Europe. Many countries in Europe. Some people, some leaders have not let it happen. And they’re not getting the proper credit they should. I could name them to you right now, but I’m not going to embarrass the other ones. But stop. This immigration is killing Europe." And also: "Stop the windmills. You’re ruining your countries. I really mean it. It’s so sad. You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds. And if they’re stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans. Stop the windmills."

Said Trump, quoted in "Trump arrives in Scotland to claim immigration is ‘killing Europe’/The US president said there had been ‘a horrible invasion’ of migrants after he landed in Scotland for a four-day visit on Friday evening" (London Times).

"I think when somebody deserves praise, that praise should be given. And President Trump deserves all the praise..."

"... because without his leadership, without him being re-elected president of the United States, the 2 percent this year and the 5 percent in 2035 — we would never, ever, ever have been able to achieve agreement on this."

It's Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, in an interview at the NYT, with the stunning headline: "The Head of NATO Thinks President Trump 'Deserves All the Praise.'" 

Rutte is the one about whom Trump said: "I think he likes me. 'Daddy, you’re my daddy.' He did it very affectionately."

So, "without him being re-elected president," means: If we had Kamala Harris as president. If we didn't have "daddy," if we had "mommy." If we didn't have Daddy, we would never, ever, ever have been able to get to the 5% deal.

"European Union floats 'zero-for-zero' tariff resolution to remove industrial fees on US goods: ‘Ready for a good deal.'"

The NY Post reports.

“I hope that the United States and Europe can establish a very close partnership,” said [Elon Musk], “effectively creating a free-trade zone between Europe and North America.” 

That had nearly become a reality during President Barack Obama’s second term but talks broke down after the environmental activist group Greenpeace leaked information, leading to a backlash....

“I just hate bailing out the Europeans again"/"I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC.”

Said JD Vance/Pete Hegseth, quoted in "Now Europe Knows What Trump’s Team Calls It Behind Its Back: 'Pathetic'/Trump officials have demanded more European military spending and questioned the continent’s values. Leaked messages show the depth of the rift" (NYT).

Wouldn't want that to get out, now, would you? 

"The Germans are open-hearted, good-natured, witty, and irresistible in war but inclined to fritter away their time and money on drink."

"The Englishman, by contrast, is affectionate, effeminate and graceful in thought, albeit prone to lechery and 'changeable as the moon' in his religious observances. He gets off comparatively lightly: the Swede is cruel and superstitious, the Hungarian is disloyal and bloodthirsty, and the 'wild, peasant-like' Pole is most likely to meet his end in a cowstall. These are the bald assertions of a 'Table of Peoples' artwork executed by an anonymous Austrian painter in about 1720, during the early throes of the Enlightenment mania for taxonomy."

From "The Enlightenment exhibition that poses troubling questions in Trump era/The German Historical Museum’s landmark exhibition on the 18th-century era has become surprisingly relevant in light of cultural and geopolitical trends" (London Times).

"I tried to explain to them how the Taliban has destroyed all the dreams I worked so hard to achieve. They kept saying how happy they are here..."

"... and how safe it is now. These are the things that impact them directly.... But what value does safety have when you lose all your dreams for it?"

Said 24-year-old Afghan woman, speaking about her female cousins, who were visiting from Europe. She is quoted in "Women despair over Taliban rules, but many Afghan returnees don’t see it/Afghans living abroad are flocking back to visit relatives for the first time since the Taliban takeover. Severe restrictions on women are not top of mind" (WaPo)(free-access link).

"'There’s just one question on voting day. Do you want an Islamized Europe or a European Europe?'"

"This stark choice was posed by Marion Maréchal, a rising star of the French far right, at the launch of her party’s campaign for the European elections in June.... While Ms. Maréchal’s Reconquest party sulfurously accuses elites of orchestrating a Great Replacement of Christians by Muslims, it seeks its own place in the corridors of power. Across the continent, the aim of far-right parties like hers is not to exit the bloc but, increasingly, to take it over. In this project, they have a model: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy....  Ms. Meloni’s group, dominated by her Brothers of Italy party and Poland’s Law and Justice, isn’t the only European home for far-right forces. There’s also the Identity and Democracy group, which houses France’s National Rally and Italy’s League party.... Far from seeking to break up the European Union, these far-right groups are now bidding to put their own stamp on it — to create what Ms. Maréchal calls a 'civilizational Europe' rather than the technocratic 'commission’s version of Europe.' Ms. Meloni, for her part, seems convinced the two can go together."

Writes David Broder, in "The Far Right Wants to Take Over Europe, and She’s Leading the Way" (NYT).

This David Broder is the author of a 2023 book titled "Mussolini’s Grandchildren: Fascism in Contemporary Italy." Don't confuse him with David S. Broder, the Washington Post journalist, who died in 2011 at the age of 81. I accidentally used my David Broder tag for this post, but have removed it.

"I'm going to call it: Europe is over. Not as a land mass, obviously.... But as a trading partner, cultural influence, serious political player and..."

"... most crucially, holiday destination, I think it is now safe to say that 'the Continent,' as we little Englanders have always somewhat solipsistically styled it, is finished... It’s on fire. Literally on fire.... And when it’s not on fire, it’s 45 degrees in the shade.... [A]ll my soppy liberal friends whinge on about how Brexit means their kids can’t go and live and work in Europe as easily as we once could.... But why would they want to? I spent a year working in Paris when I graduated, and it was ghastly. Couldn’t wait to come home. When Hemingway, nostalgic for good times with Gertrude Stein, Proust, Picasso, Simone de Beauvoir etc, called Paris 'a moveable feast' he meant if you’re a loaded, pansexual waster. But if you were a Jew or an Algerian around that time, it was more of a moveable abattoir. My family, mainland European on all sides, fled their homes for Britain between 1900 and 1939 because it was the only safe and decent place to be within a thousand miles. And I fear it is becoming so again...."

Writes Giles Coren, in "Our love affair with Europe is over, at last/They don’t want us to visit or buy their houses, and now they’ve dressed Harry Kane up as a Bavarian beer-hall bully" (London Times).

"How Rod Dreher's Blog Got a Little 'Too Weird' for The American Conservative."

I'm reading this Vanity Fair article by Caleb Ecarma. Subtitle: "The right-wing commentator’s columns, which were unedited and bankrolled by a single donor, will be shuttered Friday after a 12-year run. Sources say it was ultimately a diatribe on circumcision that was a bridge too far."

Over the last 12 years, Dreher... has built a cult following with some of the most bizarre diatribes in opinion journalism. He has warned that so-called sissy hypnosis porn is “profoundly evil;” detailed the “formal” Catholic exorcism of a friend’s suicidal wife; and recalled—in unsettling detail—the time he witnessed a Black classmate's uncircumcised penis....

"Meta suffered a major defeat on Wednesday... after European Union regulators found it had illegally forced users to effectively accept personalized ads...."

"The ruling is one of the most consequential judgments since the 27-nation bloc, home to roughly 450 million people, enacted a landmark data-privacy law aimed at restricting the ability of Facebook and other companies from collecting information about users without their prior consent.... The company includes language in its terms of service agreement, the very lengthy statement that users must accept before accessing services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, that effectively means users must allow their data to be used for personalized ads or stop using Meta’s social media services altogether."

From "Meta’s Ad Practices Ruled Illegal Under E.U. Law/The decision is one of the most consequential issued under the E.U.’s landmark data-protection law and creates a new business headwind for the social media giant" (NYT).

"Once they arrive at the tropical island to the sound of birdsong, users can roam a surreal landscape dominated by a permanent beach party."

"As the music blares out thumping dance songs, computer generated avatars wave their multiple limbs while dancing on raised platforms. Above it all a giant red statue of a shot-put athlete, rendered in heroic Soviet style, looms, tensed and poised to throw a heavy shot. Except instead of an iron shot, his ball is a menacing looking coronavirus.... Avatars can walk on water as dolphins leap through the air around them and drones hover bearing message screens flashing words like 'education,' 'public health' and '#WhoWeAre.' Open books are installed on a liquid floor as a 'symbol of the human journey towards knowledge.'..."

From "EU throws gala party for ‘global gateway’ metaverse — and only a handful of people show up" (London Times). 

By "handful," they mean 6. The EU spent £332,500. So that's £55,417 per person.

"We appreciate any help, but everyone should understand that these are not charitable contributions that Ukraine should ask for or remind of."

"These are not noble gestures for which Ukraine should bow low. This is your contribution to the security of Europe and the world. Where Ukraine has been a reliable shield for eight years. And for eight years it has been rebuffing one of the world’s biggest armies. Which stands along our borders, not the borders of the EU.... And I hope no one thinks of Ukraine as a convenient and eternal buffer zone between the West and Russia. This will never happen. Nobody will allow that. Otherwise – who’s next? Will NATO countries have to defend each other?... I thank all the states that supported Ukraine today. In words, in declarations, in concrete help. Those who are on our side today. On the side of truth and international law. I’m not calling you by name – I don’t want some other countries to be ashamed. But this is their business, this is their karma."

Said Volodymyr Zelenskiy, quoted in "Ukrainian President Makes Historic Speech in Munich (English Translation)" (Kyiv Post).

"A European campaign celebrating the 'joy' and 'freedom' of wearing the hijab has been cancelled after fierce objections from France."

"President Macron’s government denounced the campaign by the Council of Europe as deeply unacceptable, left-wing politicians criticised it and right-wing candidates for the presidency denounced it as Islamist propaganda.... The council, which works for human rights and democracy... showed young women in the head-covering with the slogans 'Bring joy and accept hijabs,' 'Beauty is in diversity as freedom is in hijab' and 'My headscarf my choice.'... Marine Le Pen, the National Rally leader who has been increasing her criticism of Islam to rival the more virulent discourse of Zemmour, called the campaign 'outrageous and indecent when millions of women fight bravely gainst this enslavement.' Voices were raised in the left-wing opposition, which subscribes along with most of the French political world to the view that the headcovering for Muslim women represents a denial of equality. Laurence Rossignol, a Socialist senator who served as women’s rights minister under President Hollande, said: 'A reminder that women are free to wear the hijab is one thing. Saying that freedom is in the hijab is another.' Under France’s tradition of strict secularism, known as la laicité, the wearing of religious head covering is barred in state schools and by women employed in public services."

From "Europe-wide pro-hijab campaign dropped after French outcry/Council of Europe idea united left and right wing in opposition" (London Times).

If "freedom is in hijab," then France's forbidding of religious head covering in schools is a denial of freedom. Maybe that's correct, but France can't support the ad campaign while maintaining that policy. So it's really not surprising that both the right and left denounced the campaign.

By the way, I considered putting a "sic" after "gainst," but it's in the OED, spelled without an apostrophe. For example, Christopher Marlowe used it in 1602: "Why figthst gainst odds?"

IN THE COMMENTS: J Oliver writes:

Marlowe died in 1593, so he said nothing quotable in 1602, unless you believe his death was faked and he lived on in Italy writing Shakespeare plays. But All Well that Ends Well.

As I said in the comments, this uncovers a problem that is always there when I use the book publication date and language like "X wrote" or "X said." 

Poor Marlowe died when he was only 29:

"Poland’s top court ruled Thursday that its national laws can trump those of the European Union...."

"The Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw ruled that parts of E.U. law were not compatible with the country’s constitution. They include an article that says that laws from Brussels have primacy over conflicting national legislation and another relating to the binding nature of decisions of the European Court of Justice. Those principles are essential to how the union functions legally.... 'It’s at the core of the union,' said Didier Reynders, the European Union’s justice commissioner.... Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, described the decision Thursday as 'historic,' saying it set the 'constitutional limits' of E.U. 'interference' in Polish cases.... The move puts the country on the path to 'Polexit' said Jeroen Lenaers, justice spokesman for the largest political bloc in the European Parliament.... 'Enough is enough. The Polish government has lost its credibility.'"

From "Poland deepens rifts with European Union after rebuff over judicial rules" (WaPo).

"On the continent, 'pro-Europeans' believe they have something in common with other Europeans that separates them from the rest of the world..."

"... they think of Europe as what the Germans call a Schicksalsgemeinschaft, or community of fate. Few remainers think in this way; many are genuine cosmopolitans.... It is particularly odd, when you think about it, that identifying with 'Europe' should be thought of as an expression of cosmopolitanism. Europe is not the world and supporting the EU, or thinking of yourself as European, does not make you a 'citizen of the world,' let alone a 'citizen of nowhere,' as Theresa May famously suggested in 2016. Rather, it makes you a citizen of a particular region – one that happens to be the whitest on earth... [W]hile the EU was based on learning the lessons of centuries of conflict within Europe that culminated in the Second World War, and gradually also came to incorporate the collective memory of the Holocaust into its narrative, 'pro-Europeans' did not even attempt to learn the lessons of what Europeans had done to the rest of the world and never had anything to say about the history of colonialism.... [T]he fragile civic identity that emerged during the postwar period seems to be giving way to a more cultural or even ethnic identity – defined, in particular, against Islam. In other words, whiteness may actually be becoming more, not less, central to the European project."

 
From "Europe’s reputation as a cosmopolitan haven has been exposed as a mirage/The EU increasingly embraces the idea of a continental identity, one that’s white and Christian. Is it really the liberal body of remainer lore?" by Hans Kundnani (The Guardian).

"The scenery that annually draws 120 million tourists would not exist if not for cows grazing."

"It has been cultivated over seven centuries of farmers driving their herds to mountainside meadows in the summer. The animals’ hoofs firm the soil, their tongues gently groom the grasses and wildflowers. In the process, they continually sculpt verdant pastures — beloved backdrops for movies like 'The Sound of Music.' All that seemed at stake when a court in the western state of Tyrol found [a farmer named Reinhard] Pfurtscheller solely responsible for the [death of a German woman hiker who was trampled by his cows] and ordered him to pay more than $210,000 in damages to her widower and son, plus monthly restitution totaling $1,850. The 2019 decision shocked farmers, and not just in Neustift im Stubaital, a village of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants who live at the foot of a glacier promoted as the 'Kingdom of Snow.' As foreclosure on Pfurtscheller’s home and farm loomed, some farmers contemplated banning hikers from their land, a move that would cut off access to the Alps. Others threatened to stop taking their cows into the Alps altogether, a move that would allow nature to cut back in. Forests would soon begin to take over.... Governments quickly acted to keep cows on the pastures. State governors, federal ministers, even the Austrian chancellor spoke out in support of Pfurtscheller, a slender man of 62 who has been farming since he was 10. Last year, federal law was changed to block similar litigation.... "

From "In the Alps, hikers on the trails and cows in the pasture make for perilous pairings" (WaPo).

It's dangerous to walk around cows! "Walkers in Britain, it seems, are killed by cows all the time," writes Bill Bryson in "The Road to Little Dribbling":

Four people were fatally trampled in one eight-week period in 2009 alone. One of these unfortunates was a veterinarian out walking her dogs on the Pennine Way, another long-distance trail, in Yorkshire. This was a woman who understood animals and liked them, probably had treats for cows in her pocket—and they still trampled her. More recently, a retired university lecturer named Mike Porter was trampled to death by an angry herd—yes, angry—in a field near the Kennet and Avon Canal in Wiltshire, a place where I had been walking only the year before. “It looked like they wanted to kill him,” one eyewitness breathlessly told the Daily Telegraph. It was the fourth serious attack on walkers in five years just by this one herd. 

How old is thought? I don't know. Maybe thought is so old, it's dying out.

It sometimes seems that way. Here's a headline on the front page of WaPo:



Click through and you get a headline that has one more word — "Ancient teeth show history of epidemics is much older than we thought" — a mere 2-letters without which you have a ludicrous second meaning.

From the article, presumably a worthy article by a man who surely didn't write the front-page teaser:

Scientists and archaeologists now believe... that the plague bacteria, which caused the medieval Black Death that killed up to half of Europe’s population, infected humans roughly 5,000 years ago in the Stone Age. The bacteria, after it had entered the bloodstream and likely killed the host, circulated into the pulp chamber of teeth, which kept its DNA insulated from millennia of environmental wear and tear. In the past decade, scientists have been able to extract and analyze that DNA. The Stone Age plague was, however, an ancestor with a slightly different genetic identity....

"So this is it, the final chapter..."

"We love Europe, we just hate the European Union. It's as simple as that.... I'm hoping this begins the end of this project. It's a bad project. It isn't just undemocratic, it's anti-democratic, and it puts in that front row, it gives people power without accountability.... There is a historic battle going on now across the West, in Europe, America, and elsewhere. It is globalism vs. populism. And you may loathe populism, but I tell you a funny thing: it's becoming very popular."

"So why has the news that a synagogue in the Netherlands stopped posting the time of services upset me above all?"

"Because it is vivid proof that anti-Semitism is driving Jews underground in the West. For some time now, many kippah-wearing Jews have adopted the habit of wearing baseball caps when visiting Europe. Young people think twice before wearing Israeli-flag T-shirts when they wander the streets of Paris. Or before carrying a backpack with the name of their Jewish youth group prominently displayed.... During a trip to Berlin, a friend gave me directions to an out-of-the-way synagogue. After some intricate explanations, he added that if I got lost, I should look for police on the street with submachine guns. 'That,' he noted, 'would be the entrance to the synagogue.' But I should also keep watch for men in baseball caps and follow them. 'They will lead you to the synagogue.... When Jews feel it is safer for them to go 'underground' as Jews, something is terribly wrong—wrong for them and, even more so, wrong for the society in which they live."

Writes Deborah Lipstadt, who teaches Holocaust history at Emory University, in "Jews Are Going Underground/A month of terrible anti-Semitic attacks culminated with a stabbing yesterday of multiple people at a Hanukkah celebration at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York" (The Atlantic).