Search by Author (Last month only)
Public forum posts since 29 Feb '24 .
Enter the exact name of the post author
  1. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    28 Mar '24 20:35
    @wildgrass said
    Youd have a point if the "data" were normalized to per capita usage.

    But it's not.
    If the usage is by people who are not part of the target countries (which it generally is), normalizing to per capita is a meaningless concept. If the question is where Pakistanis say they want to go, how many people there are in the US, China, Canada and Europe is irrelevant.
  2. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    28 Mar '24 16:55
    @moonbus said
    A TX court has upheld a school’s regulation of boys’ hair, to wit:

    <<“boy’s hair will not extend below the eyebrows, below the ear lobes, or below the top of a t-shirt collar.”>>

    <<In January, Poole [school district superintendent] placed a full page ad in the Houston Chronicle, arguing that “being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity.”>> ...[text shortened]... for China.


    https://us.cnn.com/2024/02/22/us/darryl-george-crown-act-trial-texas-reaj/index.html
    You mean like a school dress code?

    <gasp>

    Oh, the Humanity!
  3. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    27 Mar '24 02:42
    @averagejoe1 said
    I’ve been waiting for you fellers to own up to this being the first of attacks (Baltimore Bridge). No comments? And how cool the administration is about it, when they absolutely know something that we don’t.
    Their plan is in motion. I don’t think it was the Danes or the Fins. Who was it?
    Jeez.

    Is there a conspiracy theory for absolutely everything?
  4. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    26 Mar '24 13:10
    The streak is over. A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll was just published on RCP that shows Biden up 1 point in Wisconsin.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-26/election-2024-poll-biden-gains-on-trump-in-six-swing-states

    The same series of polls, however, show Trump up 7 in GA, 4 in NC, 2 in NV and 5 in AZ.

    Interestingly, the poll shows a tied race in PA.

    It's just one poll, of course, but this shows a more "traditional" setup of the Republican doing well in the southeast and pretty well in the southwest and the real area of decision being the upper midwest. This is the way things were 20 years ago. We'll see if the trend holds.

    If, in fact, Trump is gaining amongst minorities, especially Hispanics, that could put the southeast and southwest almost out of reach for Biden, meaning that he'd have to sweep the upper midwest. We'll see what happens.
  5. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    25 Mar '24 13:38
    @kevcvs57 said
    Given that the US me 23rd in the happiest place to live survey perhaps you should be asking why don’t Americans love the USA
    The happiness surveys are a great topic and possibly deserves its own thread.

    Long story short, I doubt there's much correlation between self-reported happiness and things that an economic or governmental system can really control.

    There's a reason that they say that suicide is negatively correlated with income (https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=bsba)

    i.e., richer people are MORE likely to commit suicide.
  6. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    24 Mar '24 14:21
    @wildgrass said
    Isn't it just where Facebook users are from?
    I'm not going to cite any of them because it's hard to find a really credible source, but all the sources I can find seem to indicate that American Facebook use per capita is about average.
  7. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    24 Mar '24 14:16
    @wildgrass said
    Isn't it just where Facebook users are from?
    I don't think so.

    I have no data on it, as it doesn't seem to be easily collectible, but if you read the posts on those groups, you'll see that the vast majority seem to come from non-Americans.
  8. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    22 Mar '24 21:34
    @moonbus said
    @sh76

    One reason:

    A man with pecs and an idea can make it to the top of Mr. Universe, the top of Hollywood, become Governator of California, and get a Kennedy to marry him. Where else?
    I doubt most of these Gen Z people these days even know who the Governator is.
  9. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    22 Mar '24 20:24
    @moonbus said
    I predict that the result, whatever it is, will be contested and litigated up to the highest instance, past Inauguration Day, and that there will be an interim president. Guess who ? Speaker of the House.


    😵
    Are you saying that if Trump wins, Biden will contest and litigate up to the highest instance, past Inauguration Day??

    Yikes.

    That sounds like a Big Lie.

    Or maybe even an insurrection.
  10. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    22 Mar '24 19:14
    @earl-of-trumps said
    Poll: Biden’s Support Collapsing in Michigan
    President Joe Biden’s support is collapsing in Michigan, a CNN survey released Friday revealed.

    According to CNN’s survey, former President Donald Trump is leading Biden by eight points in the key swing state, with 50 percent support to Biden’s 42 percent support. When third-party candidates are incl ...[text shortened]... lapsing-michigan/
    --------------------------------

    And more good news from this CNN poll. Enjoy!
    I love the CNN headlines.

    CNN polls take voters’ pulse in two states that flipped blue in 2020
    https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/politics/cnn-poll-michigan-pennsylvania/index.html

    And from the Google preview:

    CNN Polls: Majority of voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania are dissatisfied with their presidential choices


    I'm sure those would have been the same headlines had their polls shown Biden +8. 🙄
  11. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    22 Mar '24 18:11
    @shavixmir said
    Well, there’s a nationalistic mentality (patriotism) which is rarely seen outside the US.

    Nobody pledges alliegence to a flag, nobody says their country is the greatest on the planet, things like that are truly American.

    Most Europeans have a healthy critical attitude about the country they’re from.
    Possibly, but these people are mostly from outside the US.
  12. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    22 Mar '24 13:44
    Very informal metric, I know, but illuminating nonetheless.

    After noticing some of these groups on my Facebook feed (yes, I'm old, sue me), I did a little counting:

    Facebook groups that are called some variation of "I love USA": 12 groups of at least 100,000 members, including 8 of 230k or more, 5 of 300k or more and 2 of 500k or more.

    "I love Europe" One group over 100k: 192k members

    "I love Canada" One group over 100k: 156k members

    "I love Germany" One group over 100k: 186k members

    I love England (or UK), Japan, France, Spain, Australia etc.: no groups of 100k

    "I love China": Ha. Don't make me laugh. Maybe enough people for a tea party.

    The post that showed up on my feed was "One day I will visit America 🤍" with a picture of the Sun setting behind the Statue of Liberty and American flags in the foreground. The post was by a person with an Arabic sounding name, and the comments on it were hundreds and hundreds of "Amen" variations.

    Now, of course, I'm not saying that this is evidence of the greatness of the USA and I'm interested in getting into a debate about GDP per capita, Gini coefficients and mandated paid maternity leave. I get all of that.

    What I'm asking is: Why?

    Why do you think the United States, with all its warts and with all the hatred from people who think the USA encroaches on freedoms around the world, do soooo many people still consider it the shining city on the hill?

    I have a theory, but I'll listen first.
  13. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    21 Mar '24 12:55
    @sonhouse said
    @Mott-The-Hoople
    I would LOVE to be neighbors with sh76, would move out of the state if I found out we lived anywhere near. You can count the number of ultrarightwingnuts like you on one hand, Boonboon, Earl, Wajoma, congruent, Average joe, Mouseburn, that's about it.
    Granted, I'm a bit pollyannish, but with one exception (whom I won't name, as that wouldn't be nice), I think I'd get along well with almost every regular on this board. I can respect and like people even if we differ politically.

    By the way, I think we are practically neighbors. I don't remember the context, but I once deduced from something you posted that you live in Eastern PA (like in the Allentown/Bethlehem vicinity). If so, I'm typing this less than 100 miles from you, as the crow flies. Maybe we can continue this chat over the fence by the hedges.
  14. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    21 Mar '24 12:49
    @shavixmir said
    You do know that inflation since 2020 is a world wide problem, don’t you.
    It has very little to do with Biden or trump.
    It's a world-wide problem because the buffoons in charge used covid as an excuse to dole out oodles of pork to their constituencies to gain popularity, with zero regard to responsible fiscal and monetary policy.

    The nature of politicians and how they think and what they can get away with is a world-wide problem.
  15. Standard membersh76
    Civis Americanus Sum
    New York
    Joined
    26 Dec '07
    Moves
    17585
    21 Mar '24 12:39
    @averagejoe1 said
    @AverageJoe1
    You know, Sh76, any such discussion, by any of you, will all go back to the common denominator......You want successful people to pay for mistakes and poor choices of not-so-successful people.
    Say it.
    I want successful people to pay for mistakes and poor choices of not-so-successful people.

    Of course, like any other soundbite, it's a bit of an overstatement. so, let me rephrase:

    I think it's in the best interest of society to give the less fortunate (for whatever reason) at least a minimum standard of living that preserves their dignity, self-esteem and willingness and ability to contribute to society.

    So I believe in wealth redistribution for the sake of wealth redistribution? Absolutely not. Do I think rich people are inherently bad? Of course not. Do I think everyone is entitled to equal outcomes? Of course not. Do I think everyone is entitled to equal opportunity with corrections for factors such as family status and inherited wealth? Again, no! (read Harrison Bergeron if you want the logical extreme of such position)

    BUT...

    Do I want people to starve because they flunked out of school and can't do anything useful? No. Do I want people to be shut out of education because their parents were bad? No.

    Poor people aren't "entitled" to rich people's money, but it's in ALL of our interests that poor people get every reasonable opportunity to improve their lives and basic living necessities.

    Do you disagree?
Back to Top

Search Site Content

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.I Agree