Robot
FrozenWasteland · 61-69, M
I honestly would not hold *that* against him. Occasional brain cramps are a thing. I'm pretty sure he knows the difference.
I couldn't remember the name of one of my minions the other day.
It happens.
... of course maybe I'm just losing it too and just refusing to admit it... but I'm only running an engineering department, not the whole world... so there's that.
I couldn't remember the name of one of my minions the other day.
It happens.
... of course maybe I'm just losing it too and just refusing to admit it... but I'm only running an engineering department, not the whole world... so there's that.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
Not really surprising. Whatever he is like within the USA his grasp of the outside world looks poor.
Another example was his rudeness to Switzerland, showing no attempt to know its system and who are its most senior politicians.
Unusually, Switzerland does not have a US-style presidency or UK-style prime-minister system, but is a federation whose regional leaders form a cabinet electing its chairman who acts as de facto president, and for just one year.
At Davos, Trump referred to discussions with Karin Keller-Sutter - former "president" - over tariffs I think. He struggled to remember her name, so repeatedly and I thought more sarcastically than apologetically used "woman" and "she." He may have met her in the past; but seemed to think she is (present tense) still president or prime minister, admitted not knowing which - and at least thrice called her repetitive.
The present incumbent is Guy Parmelin.
Conferences provide lecterns for speakers' notes, which here anyone would expect includes a list of whom you met and their posts.
Elsewhere in his Davos speech did try to be emollient, saying he was not there to insult countries; then openly insulted personally his predecessor as President.
These are not the behaviour expected of an international statesman there to represent his own nation.
Another example was his rudeness to Switzerland, showing no attempt to know its system and who are its most senior politicians.
Unusually, Switzerland does not have a US-style presidency or UK-style prime-minister system, but is a federation whose regional leaders form a cabinet electing its chairman who acts as de facto president, and for just one year.
At Davos, Trump referred to discussions with Karin Keller-Sutter - former "president" - over tariffs I think. He struggled to remember her name, so repeatedly and I thought more sarcastically than apologetically used "woman" and "she." He may have met her in the past; but seemed to think she is (present tense) still president or prime minister, admitted not knowing which - and at least thrice called her repetitive.
The present incumbent is Guy Parmelin.
Conferences provide lecterns for speakers' notes, which here anyone would expect includes a list of whom you met and their posts.
Elsewhere in his Davos speech did try to be emollient, saying he was not there to insult countries; then openly insulted personally his predecessor as President.
These are not the behaviour expected of an international statesman there to represent his own nation.
Both are in pretty remote part of the globe at this time of the year.
In a previous life I flew that part of the word a few times. Shorter range airplane with refueling at Reykjavik, Iceland, then passing just a few miles south of Greenland on the way to someplace in Labrador. Just a dozen lights clustered at the south end of Greenland. The total darkness north of those lights easily confirmed that there were few if any humans up there until well beyond the other side of the north pole.
Either the US or Canadian Coast Guard kept a ship parked just south of Greenland. "Ocean Station Bravo", one of about 20 such ocean stations scattered around the globe. They provided navigation aids, and radio links, and an assortment of services. Always an upbeat voice from them. Radar scope showed the scattered icebergs, confirming the remoteness and weather very different from my comfort :)
Just discovered that there's a song about Ocean Station Bravo:
[media=https://youtu.be/33BE-Bhsxws]
In a previous life I flew that part of the word a few times. Shorter range airplane with refueling at Reykjavik, Iceland, then passing just a few miles south of Greenland on the way to someplace in Labrador. Just a dozen lights clustered at the south end of Greenland. The total darkness north of those lights easily confirmed that there were few if any humans up there until well beyond the other side of the north pole.
Either the US or Canadian Coast Guard kept a ship parked just south of Greenland. "Ocean Station Bravo", one of about 20 such ocean stations scattered around the globe. They provided navigation aids, and radio links, and an assortment of services. Always an upbeat voice from them. Radar scope showed the scattered icebergs, confirming the remoteness and weather very different from my comfort :)
Just discovered that there's a song about Ocean Station Bravo:
[media=https://youtu.be/33BE-Bhsxws]
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@ArishMell
Those flights would have been in older C130s that lacked both center fuel tanks and those huge under wing pylons added to later models, resulting in a range that fell short of the width of the Atlantic; and typically cruised at around 25K feet. So cris-crossing the Atlantic was island hopping either through Iceland or the more comfortable route through Bermuda and the Azores.
Beyond the cluster of lights at the south end of Greenland there was darkness, suggesting few if any humans there braving the harsh climate. Like if I could see further, the next light to see might be beyond the pole and 10 degrees south on the other side. My experiences then were 50 years ago, so Greenland then would have likely had a population of 15K and Iceland more like 125K. Likely half of what's there now.
I've been to all the places you references, and they do share many of the issues. Go up the Norway coast and the population progressively thins out. Even Alaska, what would Alaska be like today if it was still part of Russia?
Those flights would have been in older C130s that lacked both center fuel tanks and those huge under wing pylons added to later models, resulting in a range that fell short of the width of the Atlantic; and typically cruised at around 25K feet. So cris-crossing the Atlantic was island hopping either through Iceland or the more comfortable route through Bermuda and the Azores.
Beyond the cluster of lights at the south end of Greenland there was darkness, suggesting few if any humans there braving the harsh climate. Like if I could see further, the next light to see might be beyond the pole and 10 degrees south on the other side. My experiences then were 50 years ago, so Greenland then would have likely had a population of 15K and Iceland more like 125K. Likely half of what's there now.
I've been to all the places you references, and they do share many of the issues. Go up the Norway coast and the population progressively thins out. Even Alaska, what would Alaska be like today if it was still part of Russia?
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Heartlander Thankyou for clarifying it.
I think Alaska might actually not be unlike it is now, thanks to its minerals. The corresponding land on the Russian side of the Bering Strait is very sparsely populated due to its remoteness, but perhaps it has no worthwhile minerals, so far known anyway.
My atlas shows two or three coastal towns, but Google Earth seems to deny more than one, and that looks minerals or military. There might be a few abandoned Cold War installations still in place, perhaps some indigenous settlements.
Apparently Russia does want to develop that region of NE Siberia, but I say so cautiously because my source for that is a very strange one. It is the 'Interbering' website for a proposed railway tunnel under the Strait, the brain-storm of a Russian born and educated businessman based in Alaska. The technical aspects contain simple but major flaws, and his financial and political cases are not very credible either!
The Alaskan coast of the Bering Strait side has Wales, Tin City and York. Wales and Tin City are still active (presumably mining),York looks a long abandoned ruin. I noticed how many settlements there in the State, aprat from Fairbanks of course, though most seem small and perhaps based on mining or oil.
Unfortunately the images for this whole region are of fairly low definition, and won't magnify much without going out of focus. Google Earth's Streetview includes Fairbanks but not the other places.
I think Alaska might actually not be unlike it is now, thanks to its minerals. The corresponding land on the Russian side of the Bering Strait is very sparsely populated due to its remoteness, but perhaps it has no worthwhile minerals, so far known anyway.
My atlas shows two or three coastal towns, but Google Earth seems to deny more than one, and that looks minerals or military. There might be a few abandoned Cold War installations still in place, perhaps some indigenous settlements.
Apparently Russia does want to develop that region of NE Siberia, but I say so cautiously because my source for that is a very strange one. It is the 'Interbering' website for a proposed railway tunnel under the Strait, the brain-storm of a Russian born and educated businessman based in Alaska. The technical aspects contain simple but major flaws, and his financial and political cases are not very credible either!
The Alaskan coast of the Bering Strait side has Wales, Tin City and York. Wales and Tin City are still active (presumably mining),York looks a long abandoned ruin. I noticed how many settlements there in the State, aprat from Fairbanks of course, though most seem small and perhaps based on mining or oil.
Unfortunately the images for this whole region are of fairly low definition, and won't magnify much without going out of focus. Google Earth's Streetview includes Fairbanks but not the other places.
@ArishMell I had similar issues crossing the Pacific and I was in hope of doing so via refueling at one of those remote posts along the Aleutian chain, but that never came to pass. So always took the warmer paths via the handful of remote islands of the more southern Pacific. Islands like Wake, Johnson, Midway, etc. that even then were bypassed by Pan-Am Clippers and practically everyone else, and where the population had shrunk to just a handful of caretakers, yet enough to set a strategic marker for who the island belonged to :)
That brings to mind the question of what makes a place remote. I guess that's also about its usefulness and who wants it, and who doesn't want to give it up. Alaska probably has twice the population of Iceland, but maybe Iceland likes it that way. Meanwhile, Greenland may hold similar riches as Alaska, maybe enough to make every Danish citizen a millionaire. Do very many Greenlanders ever venture beyond a hundred miles north of that small cluster of lights? Seems to me that the bulk of Greenland beyond that cluster of lights can be sold or leased and it would be a win-win-win arrangement.
That brings to mind the question of what makes a place remote. I guess that's also about its usefulness and who wants it, and who doesn't want to give it up. Alaska probably has twice the population of Iceland, but maybe Iceland likes it that way. Meanwhile, Greenland may hold similar riches as Alaska, maybe enough to make every Danish citizen a millionaire. Do very many Greenlanders ever venture beyond a hundred miles north of that small cluster of lights? Seems to me that the bulk of Greenland beyond that cluster of lights can be sold or leased and it would be a win-win-win arrangement.
sunnudenow · 70-79, M
zonavar68 · 56-60, M
@sunnudenow he accused Biden of having dementa constantly.
samueltyler2 · 80-89, M
Captainjackass · 31-35, M
Meth can help you with being an old person but can’t help with dementia.
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
I’m thinking now that it wasn’t an accidental mix-up. I believe he is putting Denmark and other Scandinavian countries on notice. Look what has happened to Sweden in the past decade. Not a good thing for Swedish citizens. They can’t even complain publicly about it if they get raped for fear of being charged with a crime. What the hell kind of government does that to their own citizens?
ElwoodBlues · M
tRump's dementia is rapidly getting worse.
Here's some marvelous word salad in the form of a transcript of his Jan 20 speech to the White House press corps.
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnc/date/2026-01-20/segment/09
Here's just a little sample, discussing how he almost caught his finger in a binder clip😂🤣
Here's some marvelous word salad in the form of a transcript of his Jan 20 speech to the White House press corps.
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnc/date/2026-01-20/segment/09
Here's just a little sample, discussing how he almost caught his finger in a binder clip😂🤣
... it was a rigged election. Everybody knows that now.
And by the way, numbers are coming out that show it even more plainly. We caught him. We caught him. So I just want you to know that it's a terrible -- it's a terrible thing. Here's the book on accomplishments. And this is something -- oh, I'm glad my finger wasn't in that [expletive]. They could have done some damage, but you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I would have gone back. Wait, did you hear that? That was nasty.
But I would not have shown the pain. I would have acted like nothing happened as my finger fell off. That was nasty. I think somebody did that. I think some -- it was him. It was my man.
And by the way, numbers are coming out that show it even more plainly. We caught him. We caught him. So I just want you to know that it's a terrible -- it's a terrible thing. Here's the book on accomplishments. And this is something -- oh, I'm glad my finger wasn't in that [expletive]. They could have done some damage, but you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I would have gone back. Wait, did you hear that? That was nasty.
But I would not have shown the pain. I would have acted like nothing happened as my finger fell off. That was nasty. I think somebody did that. I think some -- it was him. It was my man.
ElwoodBlues · M
@boudinMan says
he made complete sense.
He manufactured phony statistics on the spot because he can't remember or read the numbers anymore. Even though he had reams of paper in front of him, he still made up most of the numbers!! At best he made a pile of lies that make sense only to low information voters. Fact-checking Trump's marathon press briefing at one-year mark of his second term
... "We're focused on the murderers, the drug dealers,"
But about 74% of the nearly 70,000 immigrants in immigration detention have no criminal convictions.
... He said the U.S. has "secured a record-breaking $18 trillion in commitments for new investments." The White House website since mid-November has shown a figure of $9.6 trillion. In addition, experts have cautioned PolitiFact that some of the $9.6 trillion in pledges may not come to fruition and others are unrealistically large compared to the gross domestic product of the countries involved.
... Trump also said gasoline is "at $1.99 in many states." In the second week of January 2026, the average price per gallon nationally was $2.78
... Trump said that under his predecessor, Joe Biden, "one out of four jobs added was a government job." This is exaggerated. Over four years, the economy added more than 16 million jobs, of which about 1.8 million were federal, state or local government positions; that's about 11% of the total. During Biden's final year in office, the economy added more than 2 million jobs overall, compared with 473,000 in 2025 under Trump.
... Trump said 300,000 people died last year because of fentanyl overdoses, but that's far above the most recent federal data. In the 12 months before August 2025, about 69,000 people in the U.S. died from all types of drug overdoses, not just fentanyl, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-marathon-press-briefing-at-one-year-mark-of-his-second-term... "We're focused on the murderers, the drug dealers,"
But about 74% of the nearly 70,000 immigrants in immigration detention have no criminal convictions.
... He said the U.S. has "secured a record-breaking $18 trillion in commitments for new investments." The White House website since mid-November has shown a figure of $9.6 trillion. In addition, experts have cautioned PolitiFact that some of the $9.6 trillion in pledges may not come to fruition and others are unrealistically large compared to the gross domestic product of the countries involved.
... Trump also said gasoline is "at $1.99 in many states." In the second week of January 2026, the average price per gallon nationally was $2.78
... Trump said that under his predecessor, Joe Biden, "one out of four jobs added was a government job." This is exaggerated. Over four years, the economy added more than 16 million jobs, of which about 1.8 million were federal, state or local government positions; that's about 11% of the total. During Biden's final year in office, the economy added more than 2 million jobs overall, compared with 473,000 in 2025 under Trump.
... Trump said 300,000 people died last year because of fentanyl overdoses, but that's far above the most recent federal data. In the 12 months before August 2025, about 69,000 people in the U.S. died from all types of drug overdoses, not just fentanyl, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Captainjackass · 31-35, M
@ElwoodBlues notice how he never replied. When forced to face the facts they have a fit and just storm off.
Poppies · 61-69, F
I'm afraid a great many people would make the same careless mistake.
Ambroseguy80 · 56-60, M
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
Katie01 · F
Are they not the same thing? I always thought they were
BohoBabe · M
ChipmunkErnie · 70-79, M
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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M
@Alyosha you think?
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@faery thank you for getting that joke
SchoolBelle · 61-69, F
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@SchoolBelle Laughs, but hollowly. I have not seen any evidence for him wanting Iceland (only another "piece of ice"?) but I would not be surprised.
If he re-named the Atlantic it would more likely be "The American Ocean" to match his "Gulf of America" invention.
Perhaps he'd re-name Reykjavik, "Trumpton", or has he reserved that for Washington?
If he re-named the Atlantic it would more likely be "The American Ocean" to match his "Gulf of America" invention.
Perhaps he'd re-name Reykjavik, "Trumpton", or has he reserved that for Washington?
WestonTexan · 18-21, M
LordShadowfire · 46-50, M
@WestonTexan Really? I don't remember Biden ever mistaking Greenland for Iceland.
Then again, I also don't remember him trying to invade Greenland.
Then again, I also don't remember him trying to invade Greenland.
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LordShadowfire · 46-50, M
LordShadowfire · 46-50, M
DeWayfarer · 61-69, M
JoyfulSilence · 51-55, M
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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M
zonavar68 · 56-60, M
Nambia is next. He must have forgotten to take his covfefe tablets
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Northwest · M
https://similarworlds.com/politics/5493451-Did-We-Go-To-War-Against-Iceland-I-listened-to-more-of-the
FreeLittleBird · F
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