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@AndyD said in The curious cult of Aldi:
wool/knitting week
Interesting. Have not seen anything like that at our Aldi store. There are all kinds of Aldi Finds but pretty much all household and garden items.
Lidl
Ton of the on the east coast of the US, but nothing anywhere near me.
US President Donald Trump has said he no longer feels obliged to think only of peace after he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, as he again repeated his demand for control of Greenland.
In a message to Norway's prime minister, Trump blamed the country for not giving him the prize.
"Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, 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", Trump said in the message obtained by US media.
"The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland," he added.
CBS News, the BBC's US partner, confirmed the message and its contents.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said he had received the text message on Sunday in response to a text he and Finland's president Alexander Stubb had sent to Trump.
Støre said they had conveyed opposition to proposed tariff increases over the Greenland dispute, and pointed to the need to de-escalate, proposing a three-way phone call the same day.
@Daniel said in Thoughts on portable electric heaters:
I considered buying a small indoor propane heater
Those give me headaches. I would avoid.
@Mik Looks great, will definitely try it; we love Indian food.
I bought almond flour at Costco, not terribly expensive, but as you point out it's not something you use a lot.
I made almond cake.
https://natashaskitchen.com/almond-cake-recipe/
The almond flour is holding its own in the freezer.
$1B fee for permanent membership; no fee for three year appointment.
At least six more countries said Sunday the United States has invited them to join U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace," a new body of world leaders meant to oversee next steps in Gaza that's showing ambitions for a broader mandate in global affairs.
A $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the Trump-led board instead of a three-year appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter, which hasn't been made public. The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.
I'm a member.
How an 80-year-old German discount chain became America’s hottest grocer.
(hope you can read this link, which was included in a daily newsletter I get. hope it's shareable.)
Aldi has been in our area for a long time. We went to one of the stores probably 15 or 20 years ago and were completely unimpressed at the time. Maybe five years ago, my walking buddy kept talking about the great deals she was getting so I figured it was worth checking out. It's become a stop on our weekly grocery trip.
We live in a time when the world can feel quite a lot like a horror movie. When there are no cataclysmic floods, there are rampaging wildfires. When there’s no deadly heat wave, there’s an unprecedented ice storm. One day it’s horrific violence, the next it’s a slide into autocracy. And through it all, multiple overlapping systems of oppression not only remain but seem to entrench themselves deeper each year.
It’s overwhelming to even write about, much less to live through. Having a sense of humor doesn’t solve any of these issues. It’s not a magical quick fix.
But what a sense of humor can do is relieve some of the tension. It can make the work of achieving justice feel a little bit less like a horror movie and more like a comedy. Humor is a powerful tool in combating cynicism and burnout and in developing a vision for a better world. Instead of causing the work for social change to feel draining, it can make it empowering.
The capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces has raised hopes of a democratic opening in the South American country. But so far, there's been no "Venezuelan Spring."
That's, in part, because Diosdado Cabello, Maduro's most hardline enforcer, remains in power under interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took over following Maduro's capture by U.S. forces.
But despite the U.S. charges, Cabello remains a central figure in the Venezuelan government, continuing to wield significant power while the administration seeks to improve relations with the Trump administration following Maduro's removal.
When asked about Cabello at a White House news conference on Wednesday, President Trump didn't seem to recognize his name.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/18/nx-s1-5678974/venezuela-maduro-enforcer-cabello
I don't remember some of the recent ones at all.
Have to admit I've often ignored these types of guidelines. Full fat milk products have been part of my diet for my entire life. Remember when eggs were considered to be bad for you? I thought it was crazy and ate them anyway.
Seen during protest in Greenland:
And from the Guardian:
A third voting bloc in the European Parliament has said they will halt the ratification of the EU-US trade deal next week, signalling the biggest material confrontation between the two sides since Donald Trump came to power.
The centre-right and largest group, the European People’s Party, and the second-biggest bloc of MEPs in the Socialists & Democrats group have already said they will pull the plug on the parliamentary legal process on Wednesday.
Now, the liberal Renew group has said it will join them.
In a statement, Valerie Heyer, the French MEP and head of the group, said:
The threats by President Donald Trump to impose increased customs duties on states refusing to agree with his plan to annex Greenland are unacceptable.
These announcements follow many other aggressive actions towards the EU. Therefore, it is now time to move from reliance to deterrence.
Consequently, Renew Europe cannot vote the EU-US Turnberry trade deal.
Furthermore, the EU should be prepared to deploy targeted and proportionate countermeasures. The activation of the EU Anti-Coercion Instrument should be explicitly considered, as it was designed precisely for situations of economic intimidation of this nature.
