Expectations re the Middle East.

[snpark]

Here

 

[snpark]

It's been a long time we didn't see any Panda gifts. Was wondering when and who might be due a breeding pair soon. Russia?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/03/28/giant-pandas-national-zoo-flirt/

 

[snpark]

Watch pandas flirt at Washington Zoo

Bao Li and Qing Bao are flirting in their enclosures at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

news.sky.com

 

[Bob]

Are these people aready voting? No wonder Trump is President.

Tomorrow’s Cabinet members, about like today’s.

 

[jstar]

Well, Trump’s brilliant speech about bombing Iran back to the stone ages and stating the Street of Hormuz is in fact not his problem and with no plan to move forward or how to obtain peace, had some major impact on oil ($107), gas (EU:,+7%), gold (-3%) and stock prices.

And in the Street of Hormuz the oil tankers don’t move. This is from Vesselfinder:

 

[Bob]

Well, Trump’s brilliant speech about bombing Iran back to the stone ages and stating the Street of Hormuz is in fact not his problem and with no plan to move forward or how to obtain peace, had some major impact on oil ($107), gas (EU:,+7%), gold (-3%) and stock prices.

And in the Street of Hormuz the oil tankers don’t move. This is from Vesselfinder:

Yeah he’s a real gem.

 

[Jaime C]

I’m rather surprised that so many people are flying Queen Bilqis Airways (QA). I think Qatar Airways (QR) is much more popular.

 

[jstar]

Quite normal for a state owned airline when the internet domain of the country is QA and the IOC (Olympics) code is QAT and the ISO currency code is QAR.

Anyway, while the work from home policy took effect on April 1, 2026, the first Friday (April 3, 2026) was a public holiday (Good Friday), so the first active WFH Friday is scheduled for later in April.

The Indonesian government has indicated that while employees are working from home, they must remain reachable, and productivity should not decrease. Eh, on Fridays? This means long weekends for the foreseeable future.

 

[Hawk256]

The Indonesian government has indicated that while employees are working from home, they must remain reachable, and productivity should not decrease. Eh, on Fridays? This means long weekends for the foreseeable future.

Finally, something we can agree on. What a momentous occasion.

 

[jstar]

Not only energy or food is becoming more expensive due to the war in the Middle East, but also... condoms. Karex, the company that produces one in five condoms worldwide, plans to raise its prices by 30%. The CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Bloomberg News the Malaysian company's total production costs have already increased by 25 to 30% since the outbreak of the war.

A lot of petrochemical products are used to make condoms. The disruptions obviously also push up the cost of condom packaging and lubricant.

There is another rather striking reason for the price increase; the dissolution of USAID by US President Donald Trump last year. Because a lot of aid organizations can no longer count on condoms supplied by the US government, they are increasingly knocking on the door of commercial companies. Like Karex.

 

[Balifrog]

Not only energy or food is becoming more expensive due to the war in the Middle East, but also... condoms. Karex, the company that produces one in five condoms worldwide, plans to raise its prices by 30%. The CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Bloomberg News the Malaysian company's total production costs have already increased by 25 to 30% since the outbreak of the war.

A lot of petrochemical products are used to make condoms. The disruptions obviously also push up the cost of condom packaging and lubricant.

There is another rather striking reason for the price increase; the dissolution of USAID by US President Donald Trump last year. Because a lot of aid organizations can no longer count on condoms supplied by the US government, they are increasingly knocking on the door of commercial companies. Like Karex.

Never used them, no problem.

Meanwhile Orange man is in deep sh*t and had to extend the cease fire by himself as the Iranians have no intention to meet the US "negociators" ...

 

[snpark]

Never used them, no problem.

Meanwhile Orange man is in deep sh*t and had to extend the cease fire by himself as the Iranians have no intention to meet the US "negociators" ...

And now also taking it upon themselves to board hijack and kidnap ships and crews in Iranian water and steal the oil or cargo. American piracy lives. Please one of the ships say no and open fire on the US troops illegally attempting to board you.

Paging Captain Philips

 

[harryopal1]

I have only read a summary of "Art of the Deal" which Trump claims to have written but which was actually written by journalist Tony Schwartz. The book lays out Tump's 11 key points in making deals. I would expect that Iranian policy makers would have read the book and wonder this if insight into Trump's charcter has made it easier for them to deal with Trump.

Any forum members actually read the book?. Curious as to your thoughts on this.

 

[snpark]

No but since the invention of AI alternative information intelligence etc there are numerous hilarious cartoons memes parodies etc of Iranians and Chinese mocking El Orango and the quality is amazing, the irony (or sadness) is that they are true.

And now he is relining the Washington Memorial swimming pool with a new American blue lining, no joke, surprised it won't have a dolphin or the Trump family crest in the tiles.

 

[serious_fun]

... a new American blue lining...

If trump is doing it, then it's israeli blue.

 

[snpark]

If trump is doing it, then it's israeli blue.

Bibi blue

 

[jstar]

Several countries, including Germany, announced measures to reduce gasoline prices. These were mainly excise reductions, Germany even went one step further with the Kraftstoffanpassungsgesetz measure.

Because of this new rule, gas stations in the country are only allowed to increase their prices once a day. Previously, this happened seven to eight (!) times a day. By doing it only one time and then only allowing price drops during the day, car drivers could better compare mutual prices and refuel as cheaply as possible.

At least, that was the idea. In practice, it turned out differently, according to new research by German research institutes. The universities of Gießen and Düsseldorf and ZEW Mannheim examined gasoline prices at about 15,000 gas stations across the country. They found out the price of gasoline -and the profit margin for gas stations- are now 5 to 6 cents higher than before the measure.

Mainly small gas stations increase their gasoline prices significantly at noon, after which they don’t really reduce prices significantly. As a result, you pay the top price for gasoline in the afternoon and it is no longer possible to refuel cheaply throughout the day. Many people dont have the possibility of getting gas in the morning.

️

 

[harryopal1]

There has been an immediate effect with the declining value of the IDR so we can expect that prices of any imported products in supermarkets will quickly rise and then higher again if the Indon government cannot continue subsidizing petrol. Whenever there is this kind of uncertainty in the market place then many unscupulous traders will jack up their prices even if their own purchase price has not risen. Of course it could be argued that this is necessary to have the extra cash in hand when they get their next more costly imports.

 

[centurion]

IDR marching steady to 17.400 today.