It’s time to take this seriously, I think. Every time Trump throws a tantrum and starts threatening a trade war, the European leaders come out and say that they’re concerned. And “Oh my! This behavior is not becoming of an American president.” This is what American foreign policy looks like now. We should end our reliance on American digital services as soon as possible.

You can get tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) from Eli Lilly & Co; which is a combined GLP-1- and GIP-agonist, and is slightly more efficacious than semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) for weight loss. The main reasons to choose semaglutide over tirzepatide is if the patient has established cardiovascular disease without diabetes, because there is evidence for it reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events in that population; or if the patient really prefers a pill to an injectable.

The point being… there are alternatives to Ozempic in the US by American companies. I also think you mean “substitute”, not “subsidize”.

I live in Norway. I’m well aware of how the tax incentives work.

The plurality of Norwegian new car buyers are choosing to support Trump’s policies monetarily by buying Teslas. They are aware of the political positions of the company and they’re still choosing to buy the cars. In my opinion, none of your excuses can justify this.

Tax incentives apply to all EVs. Not just Teslas. The fact that the company openly supports antidemocratic and anti-European policies, has lead to a decline in sales in most of Europe. The fact that Norwegians still buy Teslas at the same rate as before means that they are choosing to support these American policies. I don’t care wether it’s fascist or not, but it’s certainly opposed to a rules-based international order (which small countries like Norway are reliant on for their independence), it’s against democratic principles like free elections and separation of powers, and it’s against your own economic interests.

Tax incentives explain why people in Norway buy EVs. Tax incentives do not explain why Tesla is by far the most popular car brand in Norway and has seen no decline in sales, while Tesla sales have plummeted in the rest of Europe.

I remember a little over a decade ago, when Ireland was considered a backwards, debt-ridden “PIIGS”-country. And now look at them. Their GDP per capita is higher than Switzerland. It must be fantastic to be gainfully employed in Ireland these days.

I don’t consider the Russian leadership to be rational actors. The invasion of Ukraine was not rational. I think they will use nukes if NATO starts engaging their troops. The Russian state media constantly writes about how good it would be to drop nuclear bombs on other countries, and how they could easily “win” a nuclear exchange. And most Russians support the regime and are willing to give up their lives for it.

It really is becoming time for Europe to step up and turn the screws on Russia by declaring a no-fly zone and start bombing the everliving shit out of any Russian troops in Ukraine.

What do you think the Russians would do if NATO countries start bombing their troops in Ukraine?

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Yes. But then their car will be towed, and they will have to go through the hassle of recovering it and pay a big fine. The point is to make owning a full size pickup truck extremely impractical to discourage people from making them popular here.

The weight limit in most of Europe is 44 tonnes. The weight limit for B class license holders is 3500 kg. A Ford F-150 weighs between 1800 kg for the smallest regular cab to 3127 kg for the heaviest electric one. This is no heavier than the larger European SUVs. (For example, the Mercedes G class weighs between 2485 and 3085 kg.) A regular cab F-150 is actually lighter than most European executive cars. And even if you spec it as a super crew with a V8, it’ll still be lighter than the heavier BMW 5 series cats.

I want to be clear that I think this is very unfortunate. And for ideological reasons, I wouldn’t buy an American car. But this is not a problem that is limited to American manufacturers.

They are not heavy enough for that. The B class license lets you drive cars that weigh up to 3500 kg. Normal American pickup trucks weigh 3000 kg at most. I think the EU is even planning to increase the weight allowance, so pensioners can drive around in RVs without getting a C1 license.

You could charge higher tolls for cars above 2000 or even 1500 kg, you could make parking spots that won’t fit almost six meter long pickup trucks, and you could implement higher registration costs for heavy vehicles. There’s a lot of things you can do. But the biggest issue is in my opinion cultural. Most people are size queens. They want everything to be as big as possible. Even their cars.

They aren’t illegal when they get type approval. Ford even sells the F-150 Lightning officially where I live.

Well. Maybe it depends on your definition. When it comes to providing a good quality of life for your citizens, Canada is probably doing alright. But not exceptionally well. When the working class can’t afford to enter the housing market, and GDP per capita is around 60% of the US; that’s not so good. I’d classify Switzerland and Singapore as extremely successful.

I’m Canadian and my country is extremely successful.

That‘s a stretch, isn‘t it? What‘s the housing market like over there?

France has a deal with Ukraine, no one knows if selling at a profit, don’t know why you are making shit up.

Ok. My bad. My point still stands: Most people, including the article you just linked to, are saying that they are probably reliant on seizing frozen Russian assets to finance the purchase of those planes. And that that is precisely what the Swedish foreign minister is arguing for in the article.

Denmark ain’t donating shit, they are lending, which is a big difference.

This is a lie. Most of the Danish aid to the Ukraine is donated. There is a lending scheme which mostly involves giving loans and guarantees to Danish businesses that want to invest in the Ukraine. And even some of the money allocated through this scheme is given as grants.

As a percentage of GDP, the Nordic and Baltic countries give more than anyone else. They are donating money and lots of equipment. (Like the article says, one third of military aid comes from the Nordic countries.) They assist with training Ukrainian troops. They take in refugees. There is also industrial cooperation, with Nordic companies starting joint ventures and investing in Ukraine. Denmark has even allocated resources to let the Ukrainians open factories in Denmark.

And it’s not just limited to monetary or material support, like you’re suggesting. They’ve lobbied hard to maintain support among the other European countries, as they are also doing in the article. This isn’t a call to feel sorry for the Nordic countries, or bitching about how much they are obligated to give. It’s a call for increasing support across the board, and specifically to seize frozen Russian assets.

France has agreed to sell the Ukrainians 100 Rafales at a profit. Not “get” them. And neither of them can realistically finance this purchase. They are reliant on seizing frozen Russian assets, just like the Swedish foreign minister is arguing for in the article!

As a side note, I don’t think most of the Nordic countries are particularly well off financially. Sweden and Finland are in multiyear recessions. And even though Norway isn’t in a recession, the economy has been stagnant for years and real wages have decreased due to a devalued currency.

It is clearly the Rankine scale, which is an absolute temperature scale just like Kelvin. Which means that 0 K and 0 °R is exactly the same.

Maybe English proficiency across the world isn’t as high as the internet would have you believe.

This reminds me of that South Park episode, where Randy creates a formula for adjusted penis length, that shows that his dick is actually big. This formula just shows that Europeans live longer than Americans. You can weigh the variables differently and suddenly living standards are better in the US.

I can’t afford a house or a car, so I’d appreciate the higher wages and lower prices of the US.