W
For me, everything to this point hasn't been an argument at all, simply an exchange of information and opinions.
You did say that you were unconvinced by the AI answer after you said you'd reconsider, so I provided additional background on what its answer was based on. As I said, you're welcome to investigate those links if you have the time and inclination. If you don't, no prob.
Later, gator.
These are the sources that AI used in composing its answer; the links didn't copy when I pasted its response earlier. At least you'll know, if you have the time and desire to do so, upon what it based its response.
From the Brookings Institute, this bit is especially interesting:
Former Soviet President Gorbachev’s View
We now have a very authoritative voice from Moscow confirming this understanding. Russia behind the Headlines has published an interview with Gorbachev, who was Soviet president during the discussions and treaty negotiations concerning German reunification. The interviewer asked why Gorbachev did not “insist that the promises made to you [Gorbachev]—particularly U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East—be legally encoded?” Gorbachev replied: “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. … Another issue we brought up was discussed: making sure that NATO’s military structures would not advance and that additional armed forces would not be deployed on the territory of the then-GDR after German reunification. Baker’s statement was made in that context… Everything that could have been and needed to be done to solidify that political obligation was done. And fulfilled.”
Gorbachev continued that “The agreement on a final settlement with Germany said that no new military structures would be created in the eastern part of the country; no additional troops would be deployed; no weapons of mass destruction would be placed there. It has been obeyed all these years.” To be sure, the former Soviet president criticized NATO enlargement and called it a violation of the spirit of the assurances given Moscow in 1990, but he made clear there was no promise regarding broader enlargement.
The entire Brookings link is here:
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/
Not sure the Wiki link you posted is the treaty we are looking for. This is the one that AI references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Final_Settlement_with_Respect_to_Germany
This last one discusses (now-declassified) communications that happened at the time.
wtg said:
There was a treaty signed by the US with Gorbachev
Could you post a link to that actual document? I have searched and am unable to find it.
Thanks.
I did a quick query to AI.
Did the US ever sign a treaty with Russia that specifically stated that NATO would not expand eastward? Or were there merely discussions with/assurances to Gorbachev from Western Europe and the US about limiting NATO expansion?
Here is the answer;
No. The United States did not sign a treaty with Russia—or the Soviet Union—prohibiting NATO from expanding eastward.
The treaty people often mean is the 1990 Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, signed by the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the two German states. It set limits on military deployments in the former East Germany; it did not bar NATO from admitting countries elsewhere in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union, not the Russian Federation, was the signatory on the Soviet side. <citation src="6,7"></citation>
There were, however, conversations and verbal assurances during German reunification negotiations. James Baker’s “not one inch eastward” phrase and similar remarks by other Western officials are documented. Their meaning and scope remain disputed: some argue they encouraged Gorbachev to expect NATO would not expand more broadly; others argue they concerned NATO’s military role in a reunified Germany, and were never a binding promise about future membership. <citation src="2,4,8"></citation>
So the most precise summary is: no treaty barring broader eastward expansion; yes, there were diplomatic discussions and assurances, but no written, legally binding commitment covering Eastern Europe as a whole. <citation src="4,6,8"></citation>
There was a treaty signed by the US with Gorbachev, and in it is the provision that NATO would not be expanded.
Not sure that's entirely accurate.
Some history.
Top Trump adviser Ric Grenell allegedly outlined a stunning pay-for-influence offer to a Turkish billionaire last year: access to "POTUS," "VIP events" and administration officials, according to a text message, reviewed by Axios, that the White House counsel is investigating.
"Once the money comes to the company here, I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre [sic], and you'll be joining the VIP events and get close with the administration, even with POTUS," the May 3, 2025, text says.
Grenell has called the accusations "lies" and denied sending the text message.
Why it matters: Administration officials say the text is a key piece of evidence in the White House's investigation — ordered by President Trump — into whether Grenell abused the president's trust and misappropriated a potential multimillion-dollar donation to the Kennedy Center, which Grenell led at the time.
Grenell also served in another Trump-appointed capacity: as special envoy to Venezuela, where Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon also had contracts.
"We need to make you the 'American face' down in V," Grenell allegedly wrote in the same 2025 text message to Mildon, whose attorneys sent the text, at least one financial document and other correspondence to the White House counsel's office, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Mildon is married to another Trump adviser: former U.S. attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, who stormed into the Oval Office on Oct. 9 and accused Grenell of hoodwinking her husband into making a Kennedy Center donation that never arrived, Axios first reported..
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/19/kennedy-center-text-trump-grenell-habba
President Donald Trump is fighting to keep former special counsel Jack Smith from testifying in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation, setting up a new legal showdown over the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The BBC subpoenaed Smith for a deposition as part of its defense, according to court documents filed Monday.
Legal journalist Adam Klasfeld broke the news on X, reporting that Smith “didn’t object to the subpoena.”
“Team Trump opposes,” Klasfeld added.
Link to videoJust a week after a behind-the-scenes clash with CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl returned to Sunday’s (October 18) broadcast with a scathing report on Donald Trump.
The report touched on the upcoming midterms and the president’s attempts to undermine election voting. Stahl spoke with state and local officials about what some consider to be election interference and intimidation tactics by the U.S. government.
“In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that we would be raided by the FBI,” Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett told Stahl about the Trump administration’s FBI raid on a local Georgia election facility back in January. “They had vests. They had guns. They had all of the equipment on their belts as if they were raiding a drug house.”
Barrett said she was forced to hand over hundreds of ballots and voter rolls, and to this day, has no idea what the FBI did with the material. “I think it was all part of this concerted effort that’s happening nationwide to undermine faith in elections,” she added.
Stahl also spoke with Utah Republican Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, who said the level of federal interference is unheard of.
Turntable pron for the guys. 
I think many of us are fearful of Trump shenanigans and interference in the mechanics of the process.
This doesn't make me feel any better.
A few months into President Donald Trump’s second term, political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security made an unusual request of its agency focused on cybersecurity: Secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it.
The appointees wanted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to procure the machine, examine it and report back the findings so they could be given to the White House, according to two former administration officials with knowledge of the request.
The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials. CISA typically worked to thwart hackers. Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices. The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference.
“My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any [election] results they don’t like,” one of the former officials said. “This goes against everything CISA represents.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/cisa-election-security-donald-trump
And the mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved....
A US expedition that voyaged to a remote Pacific island in the hope of solving the mystery of what happened to pioneering pilot Amelia Earhart has said an object they suspected to be her plane was a clump of washed-up trees.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find that smoking gun,” said Steve Schultz of Purdue University, standing on the sand in front of a blue lagoon on the atoll of Nikumaroro, about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
Otherwise the Zwilling with auto bloom seems to satisfy our tastes
Duh. It never occurred to me to bloom the grounds in an electric drip. I can do that! I'll try it tomorrow.
Thanks!
Link to videoYes it gobbles up coffee. I don’t do French press so I don’t know how it compares
Albertans voting on the independence referendum that could result in them separating from Canada.
https://calgaryjournal.ca/2026/10/18/◉-photos-calgarians-rally-against-albertas-referendum/
The question popped up earlier this year in a Reddit discussion on dental hygiene: Anyone notice that Oral-B floss suddenly seemed different?
“It feels more plastic-like, rougher, less smooth,” the Reddit user noted. Wrote another: “It feels like I’m going to take a tooth along with it when I pull it out.”
Some dental floss manufacturers have indeed been quietly moving away from the synthetic material PTFE, which helped their product slip smoothly between teeth. Their decisions follow studies raising concerns as well as consumer worries and state regulation of consumer products containing PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.”
Congratulations! Have been an Aeropress user for 20 years or more when making a cup just for myself; we use an old Melitta electric drip machine to make four cups in the morning for the two of us. On the rare occasion that I do make another cup in the afternoon for just me, I use the Aeropress. A much superior cup to electric drip.
Thanks, @steve-miller !
I didn't watch the whole freezer video yet, just the beginning....but....we have an upright freezer that's in the basement. A very undemanding environment. Had a chest freezer years ago and gave it away to a friend. I know chest freezers are much more efficient and run like tanks, but not having to unload twenty things to get to the bottom where the one you want is located is the huge advantage for us and why we switched to uprights. We had a manual defrost upright and got tired of the whole defrosting thing so replaced our old upright with a frost free. Have been really happy with it in terms of function. Reliability, not so much. The one that died is 4 1/2 years old. Abt does extended warranties. A five year costs $175. If the thing craps out again, it's cost me $175 to use it for five years. Oh, and the warranty lets you claim $200 of lost food. I hate the concept of throwaway appliances but try to make up for it in other ways. We drive our cars for 20 years!
Thanks for the info on the dryers. Between you and Claude, you've convinced me it's worth having it looked at before buying new. We do indeed have a local guy, George's Appliance CPR. Turns out he started out at Abt. My neighbor has used him and said he's great and reasonably priced. I got his number and texted him. We'll see what he says!
Thanks much. Will keep you posted!
@kluurs I hadn't considered that; thanks for the suggestion. I looked into Grand and Ferguson (I know of both but haven't bought anything from them) and learned a bunch of stuff. Grand has the unit in stock and could deliver in a day or two. Ferguson's lead time is a bit longer but shorter than what Abt quoted to me.
I might get delivery faster but Abt has some things going for it that the other two don't. Don't know if any of what follows is of any usefulness or interest to other folks, but here goes....
Grand does delivery and installation but I don't see a service department, so you're going to the manufacturer for customer service on warranty work and you're stuck with their authorized repair shops; sometimes those aren't the greatest. Don't know how Speed Queen is, but getting warranty work done on my Samsung washer I bought from Best Buy was a total nightmare. Home Depot is the same.
Ferguson seems to be drop shipping from the manufacturer. Freight delivery, no offer of installation, and no service department. I think they're more geared to projects where you have a contractor doing a remodel and the contractors do the install. No service department means the same issues with warranty work as places like Grand, Best Buy, Lowe's and Home Depot.
Abt is the whole enchilada. I'll get a 10% discount on price, and they are an authorized servicer for Speed Queen. Their service department is not the cheapest by any stretch but it’s a huge part of their business. They're a 15 minute drive from my house, so an easy hop to go look at the SQ and any others I might consider. They're very old school with respect to customer service and will bend over backwards to make things right if there's a problem. Plus they have the really cool attractions in the showroom. Like this thing:
https://foursixty.com/abt-electronics/261058640/
Some of the others:
https://www.abt.com/help/attractions
A month is a longish time, but our laundry is in the basement and we already air dry a lot of things on a routine basis. Towels and sheets are the exception, but my friend Susan lives a block away and I can take those over to her house for a few weeks if the lead time on delivery is really out a month. Not ideal, but doable.
Anyway, I appreciate the suggestions! I learned a lot about those other major appliance retailers in our area. Definitely good choices but their services don't quite match my needs.
