“The United States [of America] needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. (…) NATO should be leading the way for us to get it (…) [and] becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the United States [of America]. Anything less than that is unacceptable” — DT, 14 Jan. 2026
“Yeah, there is one [limit to my ability to use American military might]. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me. I don’t need international law.” — DT, 08 Jan. 2026
“We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries [sic], it is time for Denmark to give back — World Peace is at stake!” — DT, 17 Jan. 2026
“Considering your Country decided [sic] not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS [sic bis], I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the US. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland” — DT, 19 Jan. 2026
“Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 States. Rarely seen anything like it before. Could the Environmental Insurrectionists please explain – whatever happened to global warming?” – DT, 23 Jan 2026
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that. It was very nice. A lot of people almost didn’t believe it, but they were very happy about it because they are struggling badly.” – DT, 29 Jan 2026
Archive for Greenland
as if the US didn’t already have too much ICE…
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Travel with tags 2024 Venice Bienale, Arctic, colonialism, demonstration, Derailed Trump, 🇬🇱, Erfalasorput, First Nations, Greenland, imperialism, Inuits, Kalaallit Nunaat, København, Nordic countries, protests, The North, Trump 2.0, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US politics, Winter is coming, ye Norse farce on January 19, 2026 by xi'an
a journal of the invasion year
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Running, Travel, University life, Wines with tags BD, Becky Chambers, Black Plague, book reviews, comic fantasy, comics, COVID-19, cuisine, Daniel Defoe, Gaza war, Greenland, Harry Potter, horror story, Hugo Awards, Journal of the Plague Year, Kalaallit Nunaat, kingfisher, Korea TV series, mystery novel, restaurant, Russian invasion, South Korea, Stand Up To Trump, Tokyo, Trump administration, Ukraine, Venezuela, whodunnit, yakuza on January 17, 2026 by xi'an
Read The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, which I enjoyed tremendously. Admittedly, and paradoxically, it belongs to a highly specialised niche, namely the one of murder mysteries in fantasy settings. Paradoxically, because in a fantasy universe, anything can prove true (and the opposite), which makes uncovering the murderer(s) an impossible task (for the readers). But the author manages to make the story into a page turner, while unfolding the specifics of the local universe without massive infodump. And creating fully-fleshed characters, esp. the main investigator and her rookie assistant. I am definitely looking forward the continuation of the sleuthing adventures of the pair and comforted that the book won the 2025 Hugo [Best Novel] Award! (And this made me reminiscing of other
great fantasy mysteries, like Gideon the Ninth, A Master of Djinn, the Bobby Dollar trilogy, as well as several Kingfisher‘s books.) I also read the BD Petites coupures à Shioguni (Small denominations in Shioguni) by Florent Chavouet, a Japanese gangster story with a truly original style and a relatively convincing scenario.
Prepared several kilos of local (sea) scallops during our Norman vacations, which is easier than preparing oysters but messier since the shells may be full of sand. Also failed my first chocolate mousse of the year, mostly due to eggs being too cold and solidifying the barely melted chocolate as a result.
Watched Beyond the Bar, (yet another) Korean TV series on a major legal company and the rise of a young recruit. Repeating a lot of tropes found in other series on the same topic, with weak resolutions of the legal issues but enjoyable at low doses nonetheless. Also found myself watching The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third instalment of the Harry Potter franchise, Fantastic Beasts, which is frankly appalling, cheesy, and lacking a true background story.
Nature tidbits [19 June 2025]
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel, University life with tags @ScientistTrump, AMOC), Arctic, Atacama, Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, axolotls, ban guns, Chile, China, computer vision, cyborg, defence spending, DOGE, Egypt, Elsevier, Europe, face recognition, First Nations, foreign aid, fossils, France, Greenland, gun control, gun lobby, ice age, infectious diseases, life expectancy, Medicaid, Nature, pangolin, Paris, plastic waste, Pontifical Academy of Science, Science, Svalbard, Thousand Talents Plan, transport accidents, University of Warwick, USA, USAid, Vera Rubin Observatory, WHO, World Health Organization on August 9, 2025 by xi'anEditorials on China becoming the World scientific superpower, along with a call for continued collaboration under security risk assessment, the news that all incoming Nature publications will come accompanied by the full editorial process (reviews and authors’ responses), which sounds most sensible to me, another call for novel research indicators to be used eg in the REF but… being co-funded by Elsevier is not especially promising!—along with a Nature investigation on paper mills—, and another personal take calling for new FAA models on air controller loads, which are too light according to the author!, who thinks controllers can handle several flights concurrently.
News on the incoming Vera Rubin Observatory telescope in Chile—if not close to the Atacama peaks I climbed during ISBA 2004—and its unique technology (with a camera the size of a car!). As well as a highlight on African space agencies (where I discovered that Egypt is the most active). Plus, a rather vague report on ether0 as a “stepping stone towards a reasoning model“, once again playing with words and double meaning on what’s reason(ing). Further entries (alas!) onH ow Trump 2.0 is reshaping science with the impact of barring entry to 19 countries’ nationals and China multiplying calls to attract researchers from abroad and keep students in the country. Including unusually large salaries and benefits. (Pangolins and axolotls make an appearance in both this issue and the next, how unlikely is this?! With the conflicting items of information that the former are primarily hunted for their scales or for their taste.)
The most frightening section of the 19 June issue is however on the threat of a collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which would bring a new Ice Age to Western Europe and dramatic changes in the weather worldwide. Along with several research articles on climate change and its impacts.
De pierre et d’os
Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel with tags aquarelle, Arctic, book adaptation, book review, chamanism, ethnography, Far North, First Nations, graphical novel, Greenland, husky dogs, Inuits, inukshuk, Lille, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Northern lights, Paul-Émile Victor, qimuttoq, sledge dogs, supersition, tupilak on June 30, 2025 by xi'an
Xi'an's Og 