You can find anything on the internet, but this is what ChatGPT said:
That statement is mostly misleading unless it specifically means U.S. aid related to Ukraine/Eastern Europe.
U.S. foreign assistance to European countries (including Ukraine) has varied a lot, especially since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Ukraine became by far the largest European recipient. In FY2023 alone, Ukraine got about $16.6B in U.S. aid disbursements.
In some years, if you include Ukraine-related military/economic/humanitarian appropriations, total U.S. spending connected to Europe can rise much higher. For example, Ukraine-related appropriations were tens of billions, but not all of that money was physically “sent to Europe” — much was spent in the U.S. on weapons production, replenishing stockpiles, logistics, etc.
No major new Ukraine aid legislation was approved after Trump returned in Jan. 2025, according to CFR’s tracking of U.S. appropriations. Much of what continued was aid already authorized earlier.

Why is trade only making the EU depend on the US? There is a whole lot of goods and services coming from the EU, that you depend on. If the EU stopped buying American products and services, you would not be able to refinance
your Gross debt of about 122–125% of GDP.
Trump has increased the deficit to about 6%. The EU has a rule enforcing all Euro countries to keep their deficit below 3%. The Euro area (eurozone) had
a deficit of 2.9% of GDP in 2025. None of that is because of the US, in fact,
the US made that more difficult.

You want to live in a fact free world. If Trump says inflation is 0%, you will believe it, even if you had to sell stuff to pay for groceries and gas.

Next time another Hitler comes along, would be in YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY.

And your political side would worship him and erect golden statues of him.

We only had a conflict with Russia, because we picked your side after the war.
At no point in time after WWII was the military force of Russia stronger, larger
or better funded than the combined military force of Europe.

Around 2000, the EU states collectively had several times Russia’s defense spending, overwhelmingly superior naval and air power in aggregate. They would have had no chance against us, if they had attacked. Even at the minimum, around 2004, we still spent €110–130 billion per year, while Russia was spending $19–21 billion. That's because the combined GDP of the EU was about ~20 times larger than Russia’s in 2004. They are a huge empty country with a loud mouth, and citizens who are indoctrinated or forced to get blown up for their dictator.
Even Ukraine is now killing them in a 5 to 1 ratio, with NO HELP FROM YOU.

When To Use 'Then' and 'Than':

Than is used in comparisons as in "she is younger than I am" and "he is taller than me". Then is used to talk about time as in "back then, I lived in Idaho," or "we'll have to wait
until then."

When to Use Than:
Use than when you are comparing two people, things, or ideas. It is usually paired with words like more, less, better, or worse.

Example: She runs faster than me.
Example: I would rather have pizza than pasta.

When to Use Then:
Use then when talking about time, a sequence of events (like "next" or "after that"),
or as a result.

Example: We ate dinner and then we watched a movie.
Example: If you finish your chores, then you can go play.
Example: Back then, we didn't have smartphones

Yes, dumb-ass, the Netherlands has a very strong economy. We have companies that have high impact in the world, like ASML, NXP, Besi, Boskalis, SBM Offshore, Damen Shipyards Group, Ayden, ING, Prosus, Unilever, Heineken, Ahold Delhaize, and Shell and Airbus together with other countries. For such a small country, we have a big impact on the world. We basically invented the stock market and were the biggest traders in the world for a few hundred years. We created New York, before the Brits stole it. We have world-renowned universities and we in solidly in the top 3 of biggest foreign investors in the US. We have the second largest harbor in the world, only because Shanghai surpassed it. Still, the Netherlands is a world leader in the planning and management of logistics flows.

Working hard is for stupid people, we work smart. Western Europe has a high living standard because of EFFICIENCY, resulting in a high productivity. We invested our own damn money in the advancement and infrastructure that we have.

The US doesn't give a cent to Europe or European countries. After WWII you sent us Marshall aid, of about $ 13 billion, but that stopped 70 years ago and we paid back 100% of the loan. In 1971, the Netherlands even made an early repayment on the remaining Marshall Plan debts, to support the US dollar during a currency crisis. You are confused by 75 years.

Your contributions to NATO are purely self-serving and intended for world domination. You have military basis in around 80 countries, not to protect them, but to make sure that those countries do your bidding. You start the wars on the other side of the world and then we come to help clean up your mess. Then the first time we face violence directly on our border, from your former worst enemy, which was our enemy too because we picked your side, you are nowhere to be found.

Poland is obviously nervous with Russia at its border. They were a very much a pro-American country, but enthusiasm toward the United States has cooled recently, and opinions are now more mixed than they used to be.
only registered users can see external links

Calling me 'smug' is projection of the highest order, damn ignorant yankee.
You have no idea what is happening in your own damn(ed) country, let alone what is going on outside your borders. Anything you think you know are carefully designed lies from your corrupt media, to make you serve the destruction of your own democracy and then your own oppression by the Epstein class.

If the kid in the photo lives anywhere near the equator, he will be a refugee in his lifetime,
if he's not killed in the chaos that will be caused by the climate crisis, before his area becomes unfit for human survival for most of the year.

Our friends were visiting family in Pakistan for 3 weeks, a few years back. It was during a hot period that lasted several months. They were inside most of that time and only went out when they went to other people or late at night. During the day, outside was mostly deserted. It's now almost standard for long periods each year. They are about 2000 miles from the equator. In the gulf states, people live indoors for most of the summer.
People are already leaving those areas in big numbers, but wait a few decades and see
a mass exodus from parts of South Asia, the Persian Gulf, coastal West Africa, and Southeast Asia. The economy of those countries cannot sustain that. The rest of the world will be forced to either accept that refugee tidal wave, send them lots of money to survive,
or let them suffer and die, because of a problem that the West created.

Understand that RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are NOT scenarios that are based on uncertainty in the prediction of the climate, but uncertainty in the prediction of how much the world ACTS to reduce climate change. If we do more, we will achieve the RCP4.5 scenario or better,
and if we do less we will get the RCP8.5 scenario or worse. If we had done nothing, we would be in the SSP5-8.5 scenario right now, which would likely result in substantial and growing destabilization by 2050.

By 2075, large parts of the world are facing chronic heat, water stress, migration crises, repeated food and infrastructure shocks, while many coastal cities are forced to build massive seawalls, elevate infrastructure, or abandon flood-prone neighborhoods due to persistent sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
By 2100, people will face a much harsher planet where many regions are difficult to live in without massive technological support, hundreds of millions of people are affected by rising seas, many coastlines are redrawn by erosion and flooding, major cities spend vast resources defending themselves from the ocean, and some low-lying communities and islands are permanently lost or relocated.

I'm 'out' most weekends, which is why you won't see many comments from me appear during the weekends. I'm too busy then. I'm mostly writing comments during working hours and the time between working and dinner.
I've traveled all over Europe, including Denmark. The other Nordic countries are indeed still on my to-do-list.

Maybe your side of politics is preoccupied with laws about being allowed to walk onto property, but it's not an issue for me. If I am moving around and see a sign 'private property' or something, I just turn around. I have no desire for a law that keeps people of my property, because I never had a problem with people on my property. Why would you be?
Or is this just your fantasy of shooting people speaking, that makes you wanting for a law that allows it, if someone makes the mistake on walking onto your property?

Your country is subsidizing no one and nothing, without a selfish reason for profit or control. Your bloated military budget is NOT intended to protect me, but purely for your own interests of dominating the world. If the Nazis hadn't threatened your power, the US would have never stopped them from taking over all of Europe. Your leaders just understood that there was no limit to the ambition of the Nazi, perceived them as a competing for world domination and only then chose to stop them, before they were too powerful and came for your ass. The only difference between your selfishness then and your selfishness now is that it's now completely short-sighted, because absolute idiots took control. Classic Republicans and even Democrats are just as selfish, but they have a longer term strategy, because they can think ahead more. They understand that having allies and trading partners only strengthens their own self-interests.

There have been several models for a long time, ranging from the best case to the worst case scenario. The warming of the planet is actually following a trend between RCP4.5
and RCP8.5, which is worse than the average of the models and less than the worst.

They call RCP4.5 the “Expensive adaptation world”
And the call RCP8.5 the “Chronic global stress world”

Why many economists think transition to green energy is cheaper than accepting the cost of the damage of a RCP4.5 climate.

RCP8.5 doesn't mean “everyone dies”, but a world where human civilization still exists,
yet operates under chronic environmental stress, persistent instability, and much lower resilience than today.

would likely look something like this:
- deadly heatwaves becoming routine across large regions,
- chronic coastal flooding and gradual retreat from some shorelines,
- repeated food and water crises in vulnerable countries,
- massive biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse,
- rainforest dieback,
- migration pressures involving tens or hundreds of millions of people,
- rising insurance and infrastructure failures,
- worsening inequality between adaptable wealthy regions and vulnerable poorer ones,
- increasing political instability driven by resource stress and repeated disasters.
- rising insurance and infrastructure failures,
- worsening inequality between adaptable wealthy regions and vulnerable poorer ones,
- increasing political instability driven by resource stress and repeated disasters.

That's very fucking bad.
Understand that if we don't do anything it will be WORSE THAN RCP8.5.
Also, warming doesn't stop in 2100. Chain reactions will keep making it worse.
It will probably not be complete extinction, but it will mean that the US will become too hot for human survival.

Places like:
- Canada,
- Northern Russia,
- Scandinavia,
- And southern parts of South America
Would likely remain physically livable even in extreme warming worlds.
There would be not enough living space for the 8 billion people we have now.

Or let them hunt grey squirrels. Is a bit more challenging target too.

I'm still hanging on to one of these, which I got from an aunt a long time ago.
only registered users can see external links
I haven't used it in 20 years, but it fits in the sideboard with a new AKAI set and a VCR, that I have not used for a long time either. My office would be suited better
with more storage, if I get rid of that stuff, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
only registered users can see external links

In my previous home, I had these two AKAI sets setup as surround set on my PC, with 4 full-size speakers in a 100 square foot office. The AA-1010L only has 18 W, but those are old Watts, which didn't sound much less powerful than the 120 W
of the newer amplifier. It made the apartment shake to its foundations.

Sure, but you can also have a device of the same size and weight that can do
the same, but also take a picture of that lumber, search for the price of that lumber at another wholesaler, call them to ask if it's in stock, and then move money from your savings account to your checking account to pay for it.

It's just accepting the downsides of the price, having to charge it all the time,
and having to replace it after a few years, because the updates make it sluggish
and run out of juice before the end of the day.

Technical advancements have their downsides, but choosing to ignore them
also means not taking advantage of them.

England Released 15 Small Animals Into a Dead Forest —
8 Months Later Scientists Were Shocked
only registered users can see external links

Skill beats size. Just be generous and willing to learn
and you will get more chances to learn the skills.
I think that most women recognize effort, if it wasn't a succes the first time.
It's also not your job to bring 100% of the effort to the bed.
Just don't be one of those guys who bring way less than 50%.

When do you need police?
When other people disrespect your life, livelihood and property.

When do you need unions?
When your employers disrespect your life, livelihood and property.

You are supporting a president who is 'defunding' the 'employer police'.
And you think that employees shouldn't organize their own.
That's asking for employers who disrespect the life, livelihood and property
of employees EVEN MORE.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the way the slogan 'defund the police' was not about dismantling the police, it was about transferring tasks away from the armed police, including the funds related to those tasks, TOWARDS OTHER specialized public services like mental health responders, social workers, housing support, and crisis intervention teams. The reason is to achieve that many nonviolent social and mental-health crises are handled more safely and effectively by specialized public services, than by armed police trained primarily for enforcement and control.

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Police are trained for enforcement, so when they handle social crises, they may treat them as threats requiring force, instead of care or service problems, which often result in unnecessary escalation, injury, trauma, or death, including cases where autistic children or people in mental-health crises have been shot and/or killed by police.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trump is 'DEFUNDING THE EMPLOYER POLICE'.
Here is a list of 'employer police' damaged by the Trump administration:

National Labor Relations Board
- Leadership removals, quorum disruption
- Current condition: Weakened

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Commissioner firings, budget pressure
- Current condition: Weakened

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Massive staffing cuts, operational freezes
- Current condition: Severely weakened

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
- Budget and staffing reductions
- Current condition: Weakened

Wage and Hour Division
- Reduced enforcement staffing, narrower overtime rules
- Current condition: Weakened

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- Proposed elimination and consolidation
- Current condition: Most endangered

Mine Safety and Health Administration
- Staffing reductions and slower enforcement concerns
- Current condition: Weakened

Department of Labor
- Broad workforce reductions and hiring freezes
- Current condition: Weakened

Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
- Shift away from systemic discrimination and workplace civil-rights enforcement
- Current condition: Politically reshaped in a way critics argue reduces protections
for workers facing discrimination

Federal Railroad Administration
- Deregulatory and industry-friendly policy direction
- Current condition: Weakened on enforcement priorities

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- Deregulatory and industry-friendly policy direction
- Current condition: Weakened regulatorily

Securities and Exchange Commission
- More business-friendly enforcement priorities
- Reduced emphasis on aggressive corporate accountability
- Current condition: Less aggressive toward corporations and executives

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Trump administration is NOT transferring tasks away from these employee protections towards OTHER services, they are JUST damaged or decimated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anecdotal and hearsay. Union jobs pay better than non-union jobs.
If employers treated their employees fairly, you wouldn't have a need for unions.
--------------------------------------- added after 11 hours

Personally, I'm not a member of a union, because my employer treats its employees fairly. My girlfriend is a member of a union, because her employer treats its employees less fairly.
Most employers in the US treat their employees a lot less fairly than my girlfriend's employer.
Therefore, I encourage American employees to be a member of a union.

It's possible that some American unions suck, or have horrible management. If so, find one that is better, or organize your collective union membership to make it better, or join or organize the creation of a new union.

That's some vintage radio-clock. How long have you had that?
When I was young, I had a wind-up alarm clock. Not the one with two bells on it, but it had an internal rattle or something. I almost never used the alarm, I just liked the ticking of it. Then I grew out of it, and I had an clock-radio with bright red LED-numbers, that lit the whole bedroom. I also didn't use the radio alarm a lot. When I eventually did need to set alarms to wake up early, I used my CASIO wrist watch. Then somewhen in the early 90s, I bought the LCD alarm clock that I'm still using; a Junghans Mega Sensor Alarm. only registered users can see external links

They are actually representing working people, unlike your president.

A restorative system is the absolute opposite of weak and unsuccessful.
The U.S. recidivism rate is around 70%, while Scandinavian countries typically range from 20% to 40%, depending on the country and measurement method.

A system like theirs is more expensive per convict, but the entire system costs far less overall, because dramatically lower recidivism means:
- fewer people in prison
- shorter sentences
- fewer repeat incarcerations
- lower policing and court costs
- fewer social costs from crime
- less criminals = more productive citizens

Electric and fuel economical cars are more popular again, because of Trump, but cars are only a small percentage of the global problem. It takes decades of directed investments into alternative energy, while simultaneously ramping down fossil fuel subsidies/profits, making alternative energy compete with the short term profits of killing humanity.
Trump is doing the exact opposite of that. He is prioritizing more expensive fossil fuel energy, making energy more expensive for American citizens, and polluting their air and water, and accelerating climate change for everyone on the planet.
I would wish that there was ANYTHING that I could cheer for Trump over.
I could forgive him his toxic character, if he had some general positive effect on the world.

A silver lining like promoting those cars cannot compensate for his onslaught of
stupidity, cruelty, divisiveness, authoritarianism, corruption, chaos, existential threat,
and utter incompetence, in which only the last of his malignancies provides some relief.
If he was competent, his harmful effect would probably have been irreversible already.

I don't either. Your president getting elected is a symptom of a disease, not the cause.
He is 'medicine' for the disease, just as drinking bleach is a 'medicine' for indigestion, though.

They have been stable as a rock.
Your president and his followers are dangerous lunatics.

Your capital attackers were PARDONED, while the suspect in your article was released by the justice system. The difference is that Trump overruled the justice system, to get his supporters out, while you as a Trump supporter are arguing that the justice system should be more punitive. That's the hypocrisy I'm pointing out. You want a punitive system "for thee, but not for me".

I don't want a punitive system, I want a restorative/preventative justice system.
I want criminals to be rehabilitated and suspects to be innocent until proven guilty,
and not to be detained indefinitely because they might commit a crime in the future.
That could indeed cause some harm, but that is the price of freedom.
You accept a much higher price of the 2nd amendment freedom that you care about.

Why then do I not support the pardoning of the capital attackers?
Because it's not restorative/preventative for a president to give a signal that
committing crimes IN HIS NAME is permitted or even rewarded.

You couldn't find anything more recent? This is supposed to be your main villain.

Was Soros responsible?
Most economists and historians would say:
- No, he did not single-handedly cause the collapse.
- The pound was already under severe pressure because of underlying economic conditions and government policy mistakes.
- Soros became the symbolic face of the event because his bet was so large and successful.

The government that was primarily responsible for weakening the the pound was the one under Prime Minister John Major, along with earlier decisions made under Margaret Thatcher, both from the Conservative Party.

$1 billion is peanuts. Several investors made enormous fortunes betting against the U.S. housing market, before the 2008 crash.
- John Paulson probably made the most money personally. His hedge fund reportedly earned around $15–20 billion in 2007 alone by shorting subprime mortgage securities. Paulson himself reportedly earned roughly $4 billion that year, one of the largest payouts in hedge-fund history.
- Michael Burry, famous from The Big Short, identified weaknesses in subprime mortgages early and used credit default swaps to bet against mortgage bonds. His fund made about 700% for investors.

John Paulson and Michael Burry did not cause the housing bubble or the subprime lending explosion. They saw it being fueled by greedy bankers, reckless lending, and investors chasing profits, while the George W. Bush administration ignored mounting warnings.
They bet against the system holding together and made fortunes when politicians and financial institutions failed to stop the collapse, much like George Soros profited from Britain’s flawed currency policy in 1992.

These people are investors, not politicians. They are leeches on the system,
but they are not making the decisions and then profiting from them personally,
like Trump and his cronies have been doing.

More Than a Dozen U.S. Officials Sold Stocks Before Trump’s Tariffs Sent the Market Plunging
only registered users can see external links

Breaking Down the 'Insider Trading' Accusations Leveled at Trump After Tariffs U-Turn
only registered users can see external links

Mysterious trading patterns follow Trump into war
only registered users can see external links

Inside the Trump family’s global crypto cash machine.
only registered users can see external links

Trump meme coin’s creators have already made $320 million in fees as clock ticks toward presidential dinner with top holders
only registered users can see external links

Trump meme coins raise money. They also buy access.
only registered users can see external links

Lobbyists Stand To Make Millions From 'Pardon-Shopping Industry' Driven By Trump
only registered users can see external links

"the right to roam laws"? Never heard of them. I asked ChatGPT, and it seems we don't have that. Wild camping is generally illegal without permission. If there is someone on your property, you can ask them to leave, and if they don't the police comes to take them away.

Our homes are very comfortable. They are generally built from higher quality materials and with higher quality norms. They are built to last, while American homes are built to be cheap.

In a crash, you have a higher chance of surviving in an European or Japanese car, than an American car. Your cars are heavy, but they are poorly designed for safety.
We DON'T have free healthcare, we have health INSURANCE. It's just better and cheaper, because it's regulated better. Your health insurance is just a scam, designed for profit.

"if you work and try, you have a fair chance at a good living"
There is a ratings for that, which is called the Social Mobility Index.
It measures how much people can improve their economic position through work, education, and opportunity.
The US is ranked #28, after Lithuania, the Netherlands #6.
only registered users can see external links

What's your argument? The US is incapable of creating something that works well
in every other developed country?
Most of our trains cross roads through a tunnel or a bridge.

I'm very much a car person, but sometimes we go to the center of Rotterdam or The Hague. It's just quicker and cheaper to take public transport then. Sometimes I park my car near the station or we hop on the bus or tram to the station. Then we get out
in the center or take a subway (Rotterdam) or a tram (The Hague). It beats stopping
at 100 traffic lights and then paying $4/hour for parking.

It looks like they are very careful with those hantavirus victims. I'm not worried.
Hantavirus isn't very contagious. This is obviously fake news.

The CDC says: "To date, no cases of Andes virus have been confirmed in the United States as a result of this outbreak."

The U.S. does normally get ordinary hantavirus cases every year from rodent exposure in the Southwest and western states. But those are unrelated to the cruise outbreak and usually involve different hantavirus strains.

I see you have the similar failing strategy as with Covid; trying to stop it entering
the country, but having no idea what to do when it's already in your country.
You're very afraid for something new, but once shit actually hits the fan, you would ignore all the advise from specialists. Why don't you try it the other way around? Don't panick about things, when there are no actual specialists who say there is
a problem, but listen when they do say that there is a problem.

Nonsense propaganda. What you have isn't 'work ethic', it's exploitation.
Our average quality of life is much higher than yours.
You are now at the level of one of our poorest countries, on healthcare access, vacation time, public transit, maternal mortality, violent crime/homicide, life expectancy, work-life balance, job security, childcare affordability, education affordability. What is true is that you have bigger cars and bigger houses, on average. That's because one of the only things that your government subsidizes is cheap fuel for your cars. That's why gas-guzzling trucks are affordable in your country. Many Americans also have bigger houses. That's because the US overall is 20 times less populated than my country. My country is mostly one big city. Don't forget that Americans in cities like New York City or San Francisco, live in apartments that can be extremely small and very expensive too.
Also, many Americans live above their means; they are more likely to have larger living spaces, cars, air conditioning, more consumer goods, but even if they have a higher gross income, they are also more likely to have medical debt, unstable housing, little savings, high commuting costs, weak social protections, expensive childcare/education and bankruptcy risk. Credit card debt is common in the US,
in my country it's much less common.

We have different values; Dutch people value 'living', Americans value 'having'.

I don't know what you're on about with the law about your yard. Does that ever happen or is it something you have a phobia about? Most of us have a public front yard and a private back yard. It's very much uncommon that someone comes into the private back yard uninvited. If you don't like people coming up to your public front yard to sell you stuff or proselytize, then you put a sticker on your door that you don't like that, which is respected fully. We don't need laws for things that are not a problem.
My girlfriend wanted one of those stickers, and I allowed it. I think it's a bit of a shame, because I actually enjoyed engaging in a discussion with a Jehovah's Witness.

When I know it's true, from thousands of miles away, you know it's true too.
I didn't start the politics talk here, people were already doing it long before I got here looking for people talking about sex. The number of conservatives on this website surprised me. Openly and politically, you guys profess sexual repression and you spit
on the gays and the trans, but privately you're "on a site that features photographs of people with strings tied around their balls".

In the Netherlands we work to live, in the USA you live to work. That's why I have spare time to follow what is happening in the world and take the debate to the likes of you.
If you need to believe that I don't have a job, to be happy, believe whatever you want about me, because that's harmless. However, if you want to believe that Europe sucks because we are all on welfare, then you're not just wrong, but you're actively believing propaganda paid for by the oligarchs to exploit the working class, making your country worse. My state indeed funds the needs of the people more. Your state gives all your tax-dollars to people who already have billions. What do you get back for it? Your country is deep in dept, your people are poor and they are working like slaves. Why do you think that is something to be proud of?

My purpose is making the world better, by trying to convince people to stop destroying it. You are cucked by the oligarchs who care about short term profit so much, that they accept that they are destroying the world. Their greed is incurable.
Being a Renfield to the Draculas who are bleeding us dry is definitely a purpose in life, but unlike you, I can look myself in the mirror. What are you telling yourself, to make yourself believe that you are fulfilling your responsibility as a member of humanity?

Bullshit, the world is what you make of it. If you support selfish cruel people in their act of selfishness and cruelty, the world becomes worse. If you support decent people,
who are trying to make the world better, while following principles of democracy and human rights, it will have a strong positive effect.

The wise man was correct, but you have a very skewed idea of what is moral.

How your government behaves, that boot is much more applicable on yours than on mine. Both your parties SUCK BALLS and never do what they promise. Those parties are not representing you, you represent them, out of some stupid loyalty. When they brake every promise, YOU change your tune to justify their actions. That's because your politics is pushed on you from birth. You only follow the media that tells you what you want to hear and you are friends with people who agree with you. Whole states are divide up to the politics that dominate it. People are proudly proclaiming that they have independent thought, because they only agree with 99% of what Trump is doing.
Or they say "I don't have a choice, because the other side is so fucking stupid!".
If a society is so extremely split into two sides, that means you have a problem.
There are two lists, one for Republicans and one for Democrats. The lists are almost opposites of each other, but they are written in their own terminology. Either side will support their points for at least 90%, often 99% or 100%. THAT IS NOT HEALTHY!!!

The difference in my country is huge. Every person has their OWN ideas. Even if they vote for the same party or are a member (and we have 15 parties in the House of Representatives) people still might only agree 70%-80% with each other. Then we have DISCUSSIONS, in which we actually try to convince the other, instead of score points.
We have a functioning democracy that listens to its people, because our vote still matters. We have more than two pathetic choices. If one party fucks us over, we don't have just one other choice. We can even easily create a new party and vote it into significant power. If they don't do as they promised, the next election they are gone or decimated.

Almost all Americans hate politics and hate their government. Why do you think that is?

If I lived in the US, I would probably hoard guns and ammo, like I was preparing for war and build my house like a fucking fortress. That's on your society turning crazy.
I don't have to do that now, because I (still) live in a mostly sane country.

I am a pragmatic person; I fight for ideals, but I adjust to the status quo.

You never asked this question or in this way, but it isn't applicable.
There will ALWAYS be some evil in the world. The CHOICE is how you handle it; do you choose to minimize the damage of it or do you make choices in which the cure is worse than the disease.
You can turn your country into a police state, in which crime is minimized, by punishing every little offense severely and having cops everywhere controlling every move you make. Maybe that prevents you being robbed that one time in your life, or your bike doesn't get stolen, but the cops will treat you like a suspect and bother you everywhere you go.
Both crime and law enforcement are a risk to your livelihood. You can get mugged on the street or you can get hit my a stray bullet from police officers "handling" criminals. In your country, many people become victims of the police, while doing absolutely nothing illegal. You have justified that by blaming the victim for doing something wrong, but they were NOT breaking the law, before the cop decided to act against them, in most cases.

I am just trying to find an equilibrium between the risk that I'm suffering from evil or crazy people and the risk that I'm suffering from the protective measures. Your priority lies almost completely with suppression of crime, while you accept all the downsides that come from it.

"HOW do you rid the human mind of the desire to steal, harm, hate?"
That's a different question than how you protect yourself from it. Creating a police state will NOT rid the human mind of the DESIRE to steal, harm, hate. It might make rational people think twice about doing it, but criminals are NOT rational people.
The desire to steal, harm or hate are not rational to begin with. In the world we live in, it is rational to build yourself a future by education, self improvement and effectively turning your time and skills into a solid income. Stealing is always a risk, because you are dependent on a criminal economy that pays you money for stolen goods. Dealing with criminals is a risky business; you are always fighting against being ripped of or getting hurt. Harming and hating people is on the same page. That is mostly created by society; there is a culture where harming people for profit is completely acceptable, if you have the power to do so legally or even illegally.
This is propagated by mostly right-wingers, but it is also accepted by corporate liberals. It's only leftists and socialists, who want to reduce that. Hate is also mostly created by the media, that pit people against each other. If you are afraid and angry towards other people without any power, you are distracted from the powerful people harming you.

I'm surprised to see you talk about empathy, because you have always before dismissed it as weak or stupid. Empathy starts with the idea that all people are
the same and have human rights. You are always arguing against that.

Forgiveness? I am not arguing against you, I think. I think you copy/pasted this from somewhere, without reading it. Will you forgive people who entered your country illegally, when they were fleeing violence and chaos, but then did everything they could to follow the law and become a productive member of society?

Your ignorance about my country is stunning.

A police state? When the police has business with you, you have to be
extremely careful what you say or do, because they are looking for a reason
to arrest or shoot you. Our police is patient and restrained as kindergarten teachers.
We have much more freedom than you do.

I hate waking up to music, because my brain is somehow vulnerable in the morning
to picking up songs that play in my head for the rest of the day.

They are highly appreciated by lots of people, but it's not something you always have with you. It has been ages since I used a handheld calculator. There is almost always a PC near me when I need to calculate stuff. If the calculation is simple, I use the calculator app. I always pick a keyboard that has the calculator button on it.
However, I use Excel more, because most of my calculations are more complicated
or there are just multiple of them, and I usually need to keep the results.

It's not a mechanical clock, but a digital LCD alarm clock, with no radio, on one AA battery. I like it, because it makes no light, until you wave your hand over it. The alarm starts with a very soft beep every two seconds, that increases to two beeps, two louder beeps, ever increasing to louder and quicker beeps. It's really hard to find an alarm clock that wakes you up so gently. It changes automatically with daylight savings time and it follows the radio time signal station. I've had it for a long time, because it was the first of it's kind. It wasn't cheap either, but I treasure it.

There is nothing in your whole text that is problematic, except for your use
of the term 'funneling'. Funneling implies:
- concealment
- improper routing
- laundering money through intermediaries
- intentionally obscuring the recipient.

There is NO EVIDENCE of that. The grant was 'granted' by:
- NIH/NIAID awarded a grant to the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance.
- EcoHealth then subcontracted part of the work to foreign research partners, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
- NIH and the State Department reportedly knew about and approved the collaboration.

Most virology scientists are researching dangerous viruses, because there is a benefit to society to prevent them from causing an outbreak killing any number of people imaginable.

Remember SARS and MERS? Those are both corona viruses like Covid, and mostly occurred in Asia. That's why there were scientists studying corona viruses, in the area that corona viruses are going around the most.

There are virologists studying bird flu. They know exactly the number of mutations
it takes for a very deadly bird flu which at this moment is not contagious among humans, to swap genes with human flu, and become a deadly highly contagious human flu. It takes virologists to determine that, which is very valuable,
if you want to have vaccines BEFORE BIRD SHIT HITS THE FAN.
If that mutation happens, I'm sure you lot will accuse the very scientists who have warned about it for many years.

Damn, how your side has become crazy the last decades.
Everyone used to fear a virus outbreak like in the movie Outbreak, but then
you dumb-asses became afraid of the heroes who saved the world (instead of the virus who was threatening humanity), because of stupid right-wing fearmongering.

Fauci is not my hero, he was just another medical specialist who got the job of informing the stupid people how to not contain a virus and in that way overburden the healthcare system that was trying to save people from dying. We had Jaap van Dissel and Diederik Gommers. People with not much people skills, trying to unstupid stupid people, which is almost impossible.

I also have an alarm clock from decades ago, and I would be very sad if it broke.

"Things from the 70’s that no longer exist"

Calculators that way half a kilo, and can only add, subtract, multiply and divide,
also don't exist anymore. But that I think is progress.

Owning a gun isn't freedom, having no reason to own a gun is freedom.

If you are in danger of people robbing your house, you value the right to own
a fucking mean guard dog. However, it requires food, attention and vet bills,
and one day the fucker will bite you. That's why you're more free if you don't
need a guard dog for your house to be safe.

How about I just say "BULLSHIT!", like you usually do?

In the 1970s, many progressive people in the Netherlands believed nudity and sexuality should be treated openly and without shame. It was considered normal in some circles for families to shower together nude, for children to see non-sexual nudity, and for naked people of different ages to appear in magazines, television, advertisements, and public spaces such as beaches, saunas, and campsites. Open sex education and sexual freedom were seen as signs of a modern, liberated society.
On ordinary public beaches, seeing several women sunbathing or walking topless was common well into the late 1980s and in some places even the 1990s. Open sex education and sexual freedom were seen as signs of a modern, liberated society.

By 2026, Dutch society is still relatively liberal, but public nudity is much less visible than during the 1970s sexual revolution. Topless sunbathing on ordinary beaches has become uncommon, and family nudity is generally seen as more private.
The media has also changed. In the 1970s and 1980s, nudity regularly appeared in magazines, television, and even TV commercials as something normal and non-sexual.
By 2026, mainstream media is much more cautious, and nudity in advertisements or regular TV commercials is now rare. Smartphones, social media, privacy concerns,
and stronger ideas about personal boundaries and consent all contributed to this shift.

$10.20 per US gallon in the Netherlands, last time I filled up.
I'm now driving at 50 MPG, in ECO mode, to compensate.

Fauci could be the worst criminal to ever walk the planet, and personally responsible for creating Covid and unleashing it, that still doesn't make Covid a hoax, the vaccines still work, Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine still don't work, injecting bleach in your veins is still an incredibly stupid idea, masks and even scarfs help (a bit) to prevent spreading the virus when the coughing person wears one, and all of right-wing media was intentionally spreading bullshit and creating distrust, for ratings and political gain, resulting in many deaths in their own audience.

If Fauci is such a criminal, why has your completely right-wing dominated FBI and DOJ not succeeded in finding anything to indict him on?

Nothing you are saying ever holds water.

only registered users can see external links
The future looks promising. If I had a good hiding spot and could spend
the money without my girlfriend finding out...

All of Europe has an interstate highway system. We have alternatives.
You have almost nothing but your highways. That's why traffic is murder,
even on 12-lane highways.

You want to compare yourself with a country that has the lowest population density
in the world, with approximately 0.07 people per square mile.

A simple rural 2-lane road costs about $2M–$3M per mile. Who pays for that?
Who is keeping the roads free of snow, in a country where it snows more than
100 days per year?

Large parts of Alaska are not connected by roads at all either.
Alaska has about 1.1 people per square mile, about 16× denser than Greenland.

Sure, walk away. That's what Republican politicians are doing too, they are walking away from their town halls, because they are booed, shouted at and bombarded with questions by their own constituents. GOP leadership, including Mike Johnson, encouraged members to avoid in-person town halls.
only registered users can see external links

Democrats and progressive groups have been aggressively holding town halls in districts where Republicans stopped holding in-person events. In Colorado, for example, Democrats reportedly held 11 in-person town halls in the first months of 2025 while Republicans shifted toward tele-town halls.
only registered users can see external links

Meanwhile, Democrats are holding record breaking rallies everywhere.
only registered users can see external links

Anti-Trump protest movements in 2025 have been very large nationally. The “Hands Off!” protests reportedly involved demonstrations in more than 1,400 locations nationwide, with organizers claiming millions of participants.
only registered users can see external links

It doesn't look like voters agree with you. Democrats have won special elections and are over-performing and winning in red areas like Arizona and Texas, while Republicans are only winning safe districts. You are losing ground, while there are progressive Democratic candidates surging in polls. There is a whole list of progressives, with huge following and surging in polls or having a good chance to even beat Republicans in red areas: Adelita Grijalva, Analilia Mejia, Cori Bush, Donavan McKinney, Graham Platner, James Talarico, Justin J. Pearson, Mai Vang, Nida Allam, Summer Lee and even a fucking billionaire who is winning on a progressive agenda; Tom Steyer. They are winning over lots of Republicans and former Trump voters. Find me anyone on your side who people are actually excited about and who is winning over the other side.

A muslim socialist major, Zohran Mamdani, is climbing steadily in his approval ratings while Trump keeps dropping

Progressives have large grassroots followings, while Republicans have support from billionaire donors and corrupt dark money. Besides Trump, there are hardly any Republicans who get working class people actually excited. People are not even showing up for Trump himself anymore. He's falling apart, on borrowed time, you all know it, and you have no one to replace him. You have Little Marco as the main candidate now.
You know that, which is why you need to project your side's failings on the Democrats.

A real Christian would try to behave like Jesus.
"Feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, welcoming the stranger"?
The idea that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”?
Those kind of things are relevant to Mr Talarico.

Greenland is a quarter of the size of the US, but there's only 56,700 people living there. Who will pay for those thousands of miles of roads? They hunt seals for a living!!!
If they didn't get any subsidies from Denmark, they would freeze and starve to death.
Can you not understand ANYTHING?

Yes, Trump is a stupid asshole for talking about taking Greenland.
Even though they don't have money for thousands of miles of roads
that 2 people per month would use, it's STILL THEIR FUCKING COUNTRY!!

There are 330 MILLION Americans, but you cannot even build a decent train network. When too many trains derail, poisoning villages, you just reduce the speed to 5 mph.
Europe or China should acquire the US, because you obviously cannot decently manage it yourself. Your infrastructure is at the level of third world countries.

Can you provide ANYTHING that isn't based on stupid conspiracies?

Gain-of-function (GoF) research is a type of scientific study that genetically alters an organism, such as a virus, to enhance its biological functions, including transmissibility, virulence, or host range. While contentious, this research aims to understand pathogen evolution, improve vaccine development, and create pandemic countermeasures by "war-gaming" future mutations.

YOU keep parroting nonsense that has been completely debunked.
Nothing that you have predicted has ever come true.
People who used horse paste died, people who vaccinated survived.
They could even see an effect on elections, because so many conservatives
caused their own early demise. Idiots suffocating in hospital beds while crying 'hoax!'.

It's a possibility that Covid was a lab-leak, but it's not proven. In any case, the danger was real and your stupid president was denying it and spreading misinformation about treatments that don't work, instead of preventing those deaths. The US was affected by Covid many months after China and European countries, and still you had 25% of the deaths in the world. That was not because of Fauci, but because of right-wing idiots, who are incapable of understanding science and cannot act like responsible adults, when confronted with a pandemic. Go ahead, cough in each other's faces when a virus is going around, and deliver the world from your stupidity.

"In 1983, early in the AIDS crisis, Anthony Fauci co-authored a commentary discussing whether AIDS might possibly spread through close household contact, based on a small number of puzzling pediatric cases. At that point, HIV had not yet been fully identified and scientists were still trying to determine how the disease spread. Fauci explicitly framed the idea as a possibility needing caution and more evidence, not as a proven fact" How the fuck did that hurt anyone? Better safe than sorry!

When you believe such dumb stories, don't talk to me about critical thinking.

Coddled by our government? They are taxing the shit out of us while gutting our healthcare, childcare and pensions too. We just had more to begin with, because most of us were lefties once. Now most are voting right-wing, so everything is getting cut, while they blame immigrants, just like in the US. Too many gullible people like you.