Philippe Buc

“Our European allies don't understand nuclear language, for them it's like conventional with a bigger boom, no, if a single French submarine fires all its missiles, on arrival that makes “300 Nagasakis”. Is that enough to understand a message? What more do we need in Europe?”

La Punchline de Yakovleff on X: "“Our European allies don't understand nuclear language, for them it's like conventional with a bigger boom, no, if a single French submarine fires all its missiles, on arrival that makes “300 Nagasakis”. Is that enough to understand a message? What more do we need in Europe?”👊🏻 https://t.co/9gNtt9WAY3" / X “Our European allies don't understand nuclear language, for them it's like conventional with a bigger boom, no, if a single French submarine fires all its missiles, on arrival that makes “300 Nagasakis”. Is that enough to understand a message? What more do we need in Europe?”👊🏻 https://t.co/9gNtt9WAY3

The French general i.r. Yakovleff reminds the general public what the French nuclear power means. x.com/G_Yakovleff/...

Sales in China also fell by nearly 14% in January and February, but a political backlash is an unlikely explanation; Mr Musk is generally regarded as pro-China. In Britain, where his political meddling should be a factor, Tesla sales actually increased by almost 21% in February.

In Germany, where Mr Musk caused an uproar by supporting a far-right party in recent elections, sales fell by 76% in February, year on year.

Yet Barclays reckons that first-quarter sales in America, where antipathy to Mr Musk seems highest, will be flat.

—a fall of 1%, to 1.79m cars. Sales have continued to fall in recent months compared with a year ago, at a time when the EV market overall is still growing. Barclays estimates that first-quarter sales in Europe could be down by around 30%.

Mr Musk’s behaviour only partially explains Tesla’s troubles. Sales were falling before he took a chainsaw to America’s public sector. Last year Tesla dropped a long-standing aim to be making 20m cars annually by 2030 and reported its first decline in annual sales for many years

Let us add that this explains why Tesla is becoming a submarine-- to avoid Navy pilots. Another explanation is here:
The Economist, today

Only someone in Denmark might confuse over-water and under-water

Met estafettestaking hopen universiteiten en hogescholen bezuinigingen tegen te houden Bezuinigingen onderwijs: De Universiteit Leiden en de Hogeschool Leiden trapten gezamenlijk een landelijke estafettestaking af tegen de bezuinigingen op het hoger onderwijs. Docenten staakten en gaven...

Heel veel aandacht in de pers voor de zeer geslaagde aftrap van de estafettestaking in Leiden gisteren. Vandaag staken de universiteit en hogeschool in Utrecht!
1/
Met estafettestaking hopen universiteiten en hogescholen bezuinigingen tegen te houden www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

In other times, this would have meant a duel. One does not call a Navy Captain a traitor.

The difference being that Orban, who indeed got a lot of pork, is in power, and these Poles not. Orban is playing a dangerous game, because if he loses he may end up in jail. And have to cough up some of his bacon.

In French slang we might say, "c'est pas bézef", "that is not too good". But Bezos sounds also like "baisé", also slang for fucked. Fair to use for a tax evader ...

bsky.app/profile/phil...

(there is more)

6/ The bulk of its worth rests on hopes for autonomous vehicles Tesla hasn't yet delivered, despite Musk's promises in every year since 2016 that driverless Teslas would arrive no later than the following year.

5/ Tesla's electric-vehicle business accounts for almost all of its revenue but less than a quarter of its stock-market value, according to a Reuters review of more than a dozen analyses by banks and investment firms.

4/ ... that the world's most-valuable automaker isn't really a car company at all, but rather an artificial-intelligence pioneer that will soon unleash a revolution in robotaxis and humanoid robots.

3/ And yet Tesla continues to fetch a valuation far above those of the world's biggest automotive and technology firms, judging by standard financial metrics. That's because most investors and analysts have bought Musk's pitch ....

2/ The company's market capitalization has dropped 45% since hitting an all-time high of $1.5 trillion on December 17, erasing most of the gains the stock made after CEO Musk helped finance the election victory of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Reuters, Chris Kirkham, today:
1/ (Reuters) - Tesla's stock has dropped by nearly half in three months. Even so, investors are still debating whether Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker remains overpriced.

From Stéphane Audrand on X, @AudrandS
About the wretched Lindsey Graham.
The US is fast losing its historical allies.

So are the cantankerous French, well caricatured in Astérix.

Here is this coven of exalted divines... They are not advancing the business of Christ, just their delusions or business

Spain calls for EU to forge China policy without US ‘Europe must take its own decisions’, says foreign minister José Manuel Albares

It is hard to know what will come out of the Trump-Musk chaotic and disruptive foreign policy moves. But certainly little solidarity with the US on China -- www.ft.com/content/65ab...

thanks for this. There is hope, perhaps in this specific configuration for imperfect reasons

The fantasy of British defence

@unherd.com unherd.com/2025/02/the-... It took 2 to tango

I have something to contribute about "transactional politics", here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/states...

Check out my short article: States and merchants: a commentary on the current geopolitical crisis between Europe and the US www.linkedin.com/pulse/states... via @LinkedIn

The US and Europe are at a crossroads. A new world order is emerging | Christopher S Chivvis We’ve seen the opening salvo in a US effort to transform the transatlantic relationship. The future of democracy is in play

Moderate US expert hoping for some middle road between Europe and the US and downplaying European nations' abilities vis-à-vis Putin's Russia. An Atlantist can only write so: www.theguardian.com/us-news/comm...

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