Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen; née Albrecht; born 8 October 1958) is a German physician and politician serving as the 13th president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding successive positions in Angela Merkel’s cabinet, most recently as federal minister of defence. Von der Leyen is a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its EU affiliated group, the European People’s Party (EPP).
Wikipedia / Photo by European Union, 2024, CC BY 4.0
Check out Ms von der Leyen’s background on her Twitter page. She’s the real deal.
So Putin, in his wisdom, didn’t tell any of his financial comrades that he was planning a little visit to Ukraine. Putin, in his wisdom, thought it would be a little pop-in, meet-‘n-greet, 3-day liberation tour. If he had told them, they may have wanted to transfer some of that $300B in foreign accounts into, say, a 30-day CD at the Lenin’s Loot Institute or perhaps Comrade Stalin’s Savings and Loan, or even the Hammer and Ruble Holdings, where they would have received a free toaster.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves held by the U.S. and its allies were frozen. Since then, some officials and commentators have proposed seizing those assets, which amount to nearly $300 billion, and using the proceeds to defend and rebuild Ukraine. – 2 days ago
WLBOTT Predicts: The Russian ruble will be trading at $1=₽150 by the end of 2024.
Putin has pulled out all the stops to artificially float the ruble. He also has a huge surplus of Yuan and Rupees, because his buds have refused to use his toilet-paper currency in exchange for his oil.
Numbers guy and Friend of the BLOTT Joe Blogs has numerous, extensively details YouTube posts about the problemas / inkinga / Schwierigkeit / J’ai un problème / quaestio / raruraru / tatizo[1] can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@JoeBlogs
The Russians, in response to actually having to be responsible for bombing the borscht out of Ukraine, turn into whinny russo-toddlers[2].
Back to Ursula von der Leyen
Cool pic, but check out this Wikipedia-required attribution:
By Dieses Foto ist von Olaf KosinskyAchtung: Dieses Bild ist nicht gemeinfrei. Es ist zwar frei benutzbar aber gesetzlich geschützt.This photo was created by Olaf KosinskyNote: this image is not in the Public Domain. It is free to use but protected by law.Bitte benutzen Sie nach Möglichkeit als Bildbeschreibung:Olaf Kosinsky / Wikipediain unmittelbarer Nähe beim Bild oder an einer Stelle in ihrer Publikation, wo dies üblich ist. Dabei muß der Zusammenhang zwischen Bild und Urhebernennung gewahrt bleiben.I prefer the following credit:Olaf Kosinsky / Wikipedianear to the photo or at a location that is common in your publication but preserving the association between image and credit.Bitte lesen sie den vollen Lizenztext gründlich, bevor sie das Bild nutzen! Wenn sie Fragen zu den Lizenzvereinbarungen haben oder weniger restriktive kommerzielle Lizenzen wünschen, kontaktieren sie mich per Mail: kosinsky@web.dePlease review the full license requirements carefully before using this image. If you would like to clarify the terms of the license or negotiate less restrictive commercial licensing outside of the bounds of Licenses, please contact me by email: kosinsky@web.de – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25669365Ms von der Leyen’s family Crest / By Ssolbergj – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ursula von der Leyen was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, to German parents. Her father, Ernst Albrecht, was one of the first European civil servants. She was brought up bilingually in German and French, and moved to Germany in 1971 when her father became involved in German politics. She graduated from the London School of Economics in 1978, and in 1987, she acquired her medical license from Hanover Medical School.
By Kmu.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0 By President.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0
On 2 July 2019, von der Leyen was proposed by the European Council as the candidate for president of the European Commission. She was then elected by the European Parliament on 16 July; she took office on 1 December, becoming the first woman to hold the office. In November 2022 von der Leyen announced that her Commission would work to establish an International Criminal Tribunal for the Russian Federation. She was named the most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2022 and 2023.
Ms von der Leyen is a committed supporter of Ukraine.
And that is why, Honourable Members, I remain just as convinced of one simple fact today than I was two years ago standing in front of you. And that is that Ukraine will prevail and that Europe will stand with you every step of the way, through thick and thin.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday that war-torn Ukraine would have Europe’s support for “as long as it takes”, as she visited Kyiv for talks on closer integration with the bloc.
Von der Leyen said Thursday’s visit was her third to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, but this one was different. “We will never be able to match the sacrifice that the Ukrainians are making,” she told reporters during a joint press conference with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
“But what we can tell you is that you’ll have your European friends by your side as long as it takes,” she said. Upon her arrival she noted her discussions with Ukraine’s leaders would be about “getting our economies and people closer.”
WLBOTT research was unable to find any info on the Hannover Medical School mascot (or the mascot of the Leibniz University Hannover. However…..
Very cool / the powers of two….
Logo of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), a public university in Hannover, Germany – Wikipedia
Google AI appears to have mistakenly associated Phil The Ram as the mascot for Leibniz University Hannover, but Phil is actually the mascot for Thomas Jefferson University.
Hanover
Hanover looks like a cool city, and we’ll have to do a deep dive for inclusion in the Ball of Twine Tour.
By H. Helmlechner – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0By Johannes D. – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0By Frank H. aus B. – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hanover is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) population makes it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in northern Germany after Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. Hanover’s urban area comprises the towns of Garbsen, Langenhagen and Laatzen and has a population of about 791,000 (2018).
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1 July 1646 [O.S. 21 June] – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who invented calculus in addition to many other branches of mathematics and statistics. Leibniz has been called the “last universal genius” due to his knowledge and skills in different fields and because such people became less common during the Industrial Revolution and spread of specialized labor after his lifetime.
As a philosopher, he was a leading representative of 17th-century rationalism and idealism. As a mathematician, his major achievement was the development of the main ideas of differential and integral calculus, independently of Isaac Newton’s contemporaneous developments. Mathematicians have consistently favored Leibniz’s notation as the conventional and more exact expression of calculus.
In philosophy and theology, Leibniz is most noted for his optimism, i.e. his conclusion that our world is, in a qualified sense, the best possible world that God could have created.
