mtierney said:

France is smaller in area than Texas.

 That is definitely something upon which we all can agree.

And then I Googled. Should have done so first.

France is roughly the same size as Texas. In fact, Texas is actually slightly larger (268,58 square miles to France's 260,558).

LOST said:

mtierney said:

I hope the moderate Democrats coming to Congress in January will see that the USA must come together in a bipartisan way, and focus on this country’s issues first and foremost. 

 The Dems are not the problem.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/mitch-mcconnell-blocks-bipartisan-bill-to-protect-mueller-probe-jeff-flake-judges.html
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/will-mcconnell-stand-tall-for-gops-lock-em-all-up-lobby.html

 Mean while, as ml1 points out below, USA's infrastructure continues to crumble

ml1 said:
10 Years After Bridge Collapse, America Is Still Crumbling

This is exactly what I thought when I heard about his tweet this morning.  We are so owned....

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Brands Donald Trump As ‘Saudi Arabia’s *****’

tjohn said:
I quite miss Pennboy, actually.

I'm not presently in touch with him, but the last time I met up with him when he was in Hong Kong and we tried to crash the members-only Foreign Correspondents Club with him insisting that the club had a reciprocal agreement with UPenn's club.  The staff had to break out an enormous book of reciprocal agreement listings, which seemed to include everywhere except UPenn.   His linked in account has him at same job as back then.

dave said:

tjohn said:
I quite miss Pennboy, actually.

I'm not presently in touch with him, but the last time I met up with him when he was in Hong Kong and we tried to crash the members-only Foreign Correspondents Club with him insisting that the club had a reciprocal agreement with UPenn's club.  The staff had to break out an enormous book of reciprocal agreement listings, which seemed to include everywhere except UPenn.   His linked in account has him at same job as back then.

so then you would know the answer -- troll or serious?

Time to grow up, America. 

"Trump politicizes Thanksgiving call with troops to attack migrants, judges"

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/22/politics/trump-troops-border-thanksgiving-teleconference/index.html

The headlines elsewhere in the world said he thanked himself for Thanksgiving. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/23/i-made-a-tremendous-difference-trump-heaps-thanksgiving-praise-on-himself

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-23/trump-gives-thanks-to-himself-in-thanksgiving-day-address/10548778

The BBC article seems to have gone. 

He could well be designated Time's person of the year and will have to be reminded that said designation is not necessarily a complement.

It was bad enough when 40% of the country believed his BS.

Now he is beginning to believe it himself.

LOST said:
It was bad enough when 40% of the country believed his BS.
Now he is beginning to believe it himself.

 Beginning??! Umm...   

LOST said:

mtierney said:

France is smaller in area than Texas.

 That is definitely something upon which we all can agree.




And then I Googled. Should have done so first.
France is roughly the same size as Texas. In fact, Texas is actually slightly larger (268,58 square miles to France's 260,558).

 So my comment,  “France is smaller than Texas”, was correct. 

say what?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/22/world/europe/hillary-clinton-migration-populism-europe.html

ml1 said:

dave said:

tjohn said:
I quite miss Pennboy, actually.

I'm not presently in touch with him, but the last time I met up with him when he was in Hong Kong and we tried to crash the members-only Foreign Correspondents Club with him insisting that the club had a reciprocal agreement with UPenn's club.  The staff had to break out an enormous book of reciprocal agreement listings, which seemed to include everywhere except UPenn.   His linked in account has him at same job as back then.

so then you would know the answer -- troll or serious?

 serious

dave said:

ml1 said:

dave said:

tjohn said:
I quite miss Pennboy, actually.

I'm not presently in touch with him, but the last time I met up with him when he was in Hong Kong and we tried to crash the members-only Foreign Correspondents Club with him insisting that the club had a reciprocal agreement with UPenn's club.  The staff had to break out an enormous book of reciprocal agreement listings, which seemed to include everywhere except UPenn.   His linked in account has him at same job as back then.

so then you would know the answer -- troll or serious?

 serious

 I had no doubt.

dave said:

ml1 said:

dave said:

tjohn said:
I quite miss Pennboy, actually.

I'm not presently in touch with him, but the last time I met up with him when he was in Hong Kong and we tried to crash the members-only Foreign Correspondents Club with him insisting that the club had a reciprocal agreement with UPenn's club.  The staff had to break out an enormous book of reciprocal agreement listings, which seemed to include everywhere except UPenn.   His linked in account has him at same job as back then.

so then you would know the answer -- troll or serious?

 serious

that's kind of sad. 

Mnuchin’s on his way out??

Huh. Someone’s really not happy. 

joanne said:
Mnuchin’s on his way out??
Huh. Someone’s really not happy. 

Trump is obsessed with the stock market. The stock market has taken a big hit recently and the two main culprits are the prospect of higher interest rates and tariffs. Trump has been trying to get Jerome Powell, the chairman of of the Federal Reserve, to back off on his announcement that the Federal Reserve was going to raise interest rates to what the Federal Reserve thinks is "neutral." Mnuchin was the person who recommended Powell for the job as chairman of the Federal Reserve and therefore Trump is not happy with Mnuchin.  

  “This Is Us?”  Lonely posters looking for a community of like-minded people to feel safe? I am alone, but not lonely. But, it is early days yet.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html

mtierney said:
  “This Is Us?”  Lonely posters looking for a community of like-minded people to feel safe? I am alone, but not lonely. But, it is early days yet.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html

 left unsaid is that this fear and anger is mainly on the right, fanned by talk radio and Fox News. That's how they work, creating a community to stand against an evil enemy. It's especially effective with lonely people who can find themselves connected to that community. And if they are listening alone, there's no one there to rebut then hosts' fallacies. There really is no analog on the left. 

And this is a huge problem, that so-called centrists pretend "both sides" are affected by this media-stirred irrational hatred. But it's only one side. The right. 

ml1 said:

mtierney said:
  “This Is Us?”  Lonely posters looking for a community of like-minded people to feel safe? I am alone, but not lonely. But, it is early days yet.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html

 left unsaid is that this fear and anger is mainly on the right, fanned by talk radio and Fox News. That's how they work, creating a community to stand against an evil enemy. It's especially effective with lonely people who can find themselves connected to that community. And if they are listening alone, there's no one there to rebut then hosts' fallacies. There really is no analog on the left. 
And this is a huge problem, that so-called centrists pretend "both sides" are affected by this media-stirred irrational hatred. But it's only one side. The right. 

 yeah - let's not forget the record breaking buying of guns that started as soon as the black man became Prez, and which has leveled off markedly now that that we have a racist in the office.

wotta country.

drummerboy said:
yeah - let's not forget the record breaking buying of guns that started as soon as the black man became Prez, and which has leveled off markedly now that that we have a racist in the office.
wotta country.
 

I hate to bring this to you, but unlike what reagan wanted you to believe, america is just another country.

Elitists and their numbers. (“They do not represent the number of firearms sold,” but they’re a rough measure.)

DaveSchmidt said:
Elitists and their numbers. (“They do not represent the number of firearms sold,” but they’re a rough measure.)

I believe I'm missing your point. Your numbers correlate to my claim, don't they?

drummerboy said:

ml1 said:

mtierney said:
  “This Is Us?”  Lonely posters looking for a community of like-minded people to feel safe? I am alone, but not lonely. But, it is early days yet.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html

 left unsaid is that this fear and anger is mainly on the right, fanned by talk radio and Fox News. That's how they work, creating a community to stand against an evil enemy. It's especially effective with lonely people who can find themselves connected to that community. And if they are listening alone, there's no one there to rebut then hosts' fallacies. There really is no analog on the left. 
And this is a huge problem, that so-called centrists pretend "both sides" are affected by this media-stirred irrational hatred. But it's only one side. The right. 

 yeah - let's not forget the record breaking buying of guns that started as soon as the black man became Prez, and which has leveled off markedly now that that we have a racist in the office.

wotta country.

 DB, you have attributed racial animus/racism to those buying firearms during BHO's 2008 presidential campaign and the years thereafter (through 2011 Dems had control of presidency, Congress and Senate). During his 2008 election, BHO was trumpeting a reinstatement of the "assault weapon" ban (which was enacted in 1994 and automatically sunsetted out of effect in 2004).   See http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.gun.html Under the original "assault weapon" ban, any "assault weapon" that was purchased legally was not confiscated or, otherwise, outlawed.  Instead, my understanding is that any grandfathered assault weapon was considered "legal" and it also increased significantly in value (apparently due to the whole supply/demand curve).

Even looking at this situation through the lens of DB (and giving ample deference to DB's POV), I think that the collective or predominant motivation of firearms purchasers during BHO's campaign and thereafter is at best ambiguous.  DB, please connect the dots for me and explain how you came to the conclusion that firearms purchase increases from 2008 to 2016 were driven by racism.  I respectfully do not see it.

Macron feels justified in criticizing America, but doesn’t even recognize French angst...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/world/europe/france-yellow-vest-protest.html

RealityForAll said:

drummerboy said:

ml1 said:

mtierney said:
  “This Is Us?”  Lonely posters looking for a community of like-minded people to feel safe? I am alone, but not lonely. But, it is early days yet.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/opinion/loneliness-political-polarization.html

 left unsaid is that this fear and anger is mainly on the right, fanned by talk radio and Fox News. That's how they work, creating a community to stand against an evil enemy. It's especially effective with lonely people who can find themselves connected to that community. And if they are listening alone, there's no one there to rebut then hosts' fallacies. There really is no analog on the left. 
And this is a huge problem, that so-called centrists pretend "both sides" are affected by this media-stirred irrational hatred. But it's only one side. The right. 

 yeah - let's not forget the record breaking buying of guns that started as soon as the black man became Prez, and which has leveled off markedly now that that we have a racist in the office.

wotta country.

 DB, you have attributed racial animus/racism to those buying firearms during BHO's 2008 presidential campaign and the years thereafter (through 2011 Dems had control of presidency, Congress and Senate). During his 2008 election, BHO was trumpeting a reinstatement of the "assault weapon" ban (which was enacted in 1994 and automatically sunsetted out of effect in 2004).   See http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.gun.html Under the original "assault weapon" ban, any "assault weapon" that was purchased legally was not confiscated or, otherwise, outlawed.  Instead, my understanding is that any grandfathered assault weapon was considered "legal" and it also increased significantly in value (apparently due to the whole supply/demand curve).
Even looking at this situation through the lens of DB (and giving ample deference to DB's POV), I think that the collective or predominant motivation of firearms purchasers during BHO's campaign and thereafter is at best ambiguous.  DB, please connect the dots for me and explain how you came to the conclusion that firearms purchase increases from 2008 to 2016 were driven by racism.  I respectfully do not see it.

I'm sorry you don't see it.

I do.

mtierney said:
Macron feels justified in criticizing America, but doesn’t even recognize French angst...


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/24/world/europe/france-yellow-vest-protest.html

Ah, where to start?

One comment in the article stood out because it illustrates one of the most difficult aspects of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

"Many in the crowd said that they did not disdain the government’s environmental goals, but that their own survival was more important."

The second thing I would say is that Macron most likely is well-aware of domestic political challenges.

And I guess you need to explain to me how Macron's calling out Trump's Fascist tendencies bears any relationship to his understanding of French domestic politics.

drummerboy said:
I believe I'm missing your point. Your numbers correlate to my claim, don't they?

The annual increases started in 2006, two years before Obama’s election; peaked in 2016, when everyone knew he was on his way out; and are on a pace to set a new high this year, rather than level off. I’m not going to stake an argument on them, but there appear to be some holes in the correlation.

As the article concludes with the sense that Macron is out of touch with the people, I question TJohn’s view.  A photo in the article depicts a very confused looking Macron!

“The response has been out of step, disconnected,” said Sony Clinquart, the mayor of a small town near Dunkirk in the north.

“There is a lack of intermediary between him and the population,” said Isabelle Henniquau, the mayor of a town near the Swiss border. “He should explain what he is going to do.”

gerritn said:

I hate to bring this to you, but unlike what reagan wanted you to believe, america is just another country.

 This country did not exist in any manner 400 years ago, which is just a blink in history. It did not exist as a Nation-State 300 years ago and was in its infancy 200 years ago.

What makes this country different is that it is a nation of immigrants from many different countries and that is why the current hostility toward immigrants is so contrary to the basic principles, purposes and nature of the USA.

The "White Nationalists" are trying to create a false narrative based on a made-up identity.