[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ECM', 'T')here was an article a few months ago stating that there are 1.1 billion overweight people on earth. That is significant because it exceeds the number starving. There have also been numerous articles on how obesity has risen in Europe including one very recent article stating that European countries have been undereporting the problem. Even if all Americans were in this 1.1 billion who makes up the other 800 million?

Fat Europe

Damn, and I thought the U.S. had a lock on the breeding of land whales.

[BlisteredWhippet]

Americans:

[alpha480v]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BlisteredWhippet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')What a wonderfull long post that still doesn't prove that all Americans,every single one in the US,is fat ,like the other poster claims.Show me where every single American is fat.Thats what the point is here.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BlisteredWhippet', '[')size=200]Americans:

[/size]

[BlisteredWhippet]

I think, getting back to the topic of people being jealous of America...

Its a stupid idea- that foreigners are jealous of America. Yes, there are hundreds of Mexicans willing to swim across the Rio Grande, filled with raw sewage and waste, to get here and find well-paying jobs. But isn't this just economic desperation? What is jealousy, after all, but simple vanity? Vanity is not enough to get people to swim across a river of human sewage.

To be sure, there are cultural esthetes the world over clinging to vaguely nationalistic notions of the superiority of their culture. American vs. French esthetes, for example. But the vast majority of people are not cultural esthetes. The majority are poor, and practical. Their awareness of actual American cultural values is quite simply distorted because their primary impression of such comes from agents of manufactured taste, i.e. American consumer products and the Entertainment industry.

To say that poor people of limited means might aspire to own 2 cars per family, have air-conditioning, and disposable income does not imply that they are jealous, just pragmatic. Many of the aspiring consumers in the world appreciate this. They aren't "jealous" of America at all. They don't want to move here or adopt our cultural or political values.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'I') think thats really what it is.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Colorado-Valley', 'T')he U.S. is a debt-ridden oil junkie waving guns at everybody and threatening to invade countries unilaterally and torture and kill their residents in a bid to steal petroleum.

This is a country that's lost its mind. The world would do well to put it out of its misery and hope that a democratic republic emerges from the rubble.

[Newfie]

Well, it has been on pretty thin ice for a very long time. Pretty much every one in charge is fighting to stay in charge. I think the big difference between Hillary and Donald is that Hillary would have been much more effective at doing what Donald now wants to do than Donald is at doing it. She had the political and support structure in place, Donald not so much.

Trying (pretty hard) to see the upside, we dodged a bullet by having Hillary loose. And we may have dodged a bullet this time because Trump is by now so demented and delusional that his efforts will collapse around him. People want to compare him to Hitler but that is a poor comparison. Hitler worked for decades building his loyal cadre that was pretty effective at running the machine. Trump is a lone wolf from the start who has a bunch of “personalities” trying to do grown ups jobs. His “machine” is hastily thrown together and not at all cohesive. He may want to be a Hitler, he is more like a Nero.

One should remember the vast majority of Roman Emperors were seated by the Pretorian Guard, and an equal number were murdered by them.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '.')...we may have dodged a bullet this time because Trump is by now so demented and delusional that his efforts will collapse around him. People want to compare him to Hitler but that is a poor comparison. Hitler worked for decades building his loyal cadre that was pretty effective at running the machine. Trump is a lone wolf from the start who has a bunch of “personalities” trying to do grown ups jobs. His “machine” is hastily thrown together and not at all cohesive. He may want to be a Hitler, he is more like a Nero.

One should remember the vast majority of Roman Emperors were seated by the Pretorian Guard, and an equal number were murdered by them.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', ' ')
Are you suggesting that in the future the US military will copy the Imperial Roman Pretorian Guard and depose Trump or do him harm?

Personally I see no sign of that happening. If anything, the military seems to be strongly backing Trump as shown by the fact that they are effectively carrying out his commands on unpopular things like sending troops into Washington DC and other crime-ridden big cities, bombing the Iranian nuclear facilities, stopping and starting aid to Ukraine, and just today the US navy blew up a supposed Venezuelan drug running boat, all just as Trump commanded.

Cheers!

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'A')re you suggesting that in the future the US military will copy the Imperial Roman Pretorian Guard and depose Trump or do him harm?

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', '
')I worry .... about them being a copy of the Pretorian Guard and anointing him president for life.

[Newfie]

Hello Plant, long time bo see. I hope all is well.

When I spoke of the Pretorian Guard I was speaking of the folks who surround Trump, his loyal staff and compatriots, not the military.

The Pretorian Guard where there to protect the Emperor, as are the hand picked loyalist surrounding Trump.

The military, especially the National Guard, are just average Americans with a side gig. Overall their politics must pretty closely match the general populace. Sure there will be some gung-ho types but not on average.

Anyway, that is how I imagine it to be. Carinke might know better.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')Personally, I just don't get all the hysteria over Trump.
Cheers!

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Specop_007', 'I') think thats really what it is. The rest of the world is jealous of Americas might and power, and the only way they can express themselves is with anger and hatred at our obvious success.
.

[theluckycountry]

Where Are The Poor In America?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')merica loves to tally its billionaires and track the S&P’s every tick, but the millions struggling to cover rent or stock the fridge rarely make the headline scroll. Poverty is the country’s most persistent invisibility cloak, present in every zip code, yet ignored in a culture that equates success with worth. In this chart Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao breaks down where the poor in America actually live, ranked by each state.

[theluckycountry]

The Vanishing American Dream: Why Young Adults Can't Afford Homes, Families, Or Stability
https://internationalman.com/articles/t ... stability/

From over 50% to barely 10%. A pathetic indictment on the American system.

[mousepad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', '
')From over 50% to barely 10%. A pathetic indictment on the American system.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mousepad', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', '
')From over 50% to barely 10%. A pathetic indictment on the American system.

[mousepad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', '
')
So land has gone up, but wages haven't, ergo; The Vanishing American Dream: Why Young Adults Can't Afford Homes, Families, Or Stability