Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Kapture1]

Any proposed cost of Democrat social program, double it right off the bat. At least.

and a college degree means nothing if no one footing the tax burden for those college degrees and qtr trillion PER YEAR for the unemployed is hiring because of the insanely high tax costs.

[crashcourse]

anybody hear about those kids in that cave?

[Ghengis Jon]

It's easy for the right to complain about the excessive costs of social programs. But what about defense spending? That can be slashed but conservative ideology demands only increased spending for the DoD, regardless of the adverse economic impact. An example? According to the GAO, the USA maintains 800 overseas military facilities NOT counting the ones in Iraq and Afganistan. 800!!! You don't think the US could project its military power with only 500 overseas facilities? Or scrape by with 600? It's quite disingenuous to complain about excessive social program spending while ignoring the DoD black hole. As I see it, the biggest problem is the tribal mentality demonstrated by both Dems and Repubs. Basically an attitude of "I'm right, you're wrong, and reality is irrelevant."

[Kapture1]

It would be nice to be a nation, like Canada, that doesn't have to invest in a military and could instead spend that money on generous social benefits.

[crashcourse]

The Brits recently buffed up the (relatively) new British Library. The room displaying the Library's jewels is absolutely staggering. All you'll hear is gasps as people move from one display to the next. Go in the front door, turn left and go past the gift shop. Follow the stairway up.

I won't say that the Brits looted the world's most priceless paper, vellum, papyrus, and leather items but holy smokes the Brits looted the world's most priceless paper, vellum, papyrus, and leather items. Granted, I'm an antiquarian book collector, but if you have any appreciation of history, it is a must see venue. Last time I was there, a Gutenburg Bible, the Magna Carta, the Articles of the Barons, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and scrolls from Bhudda's personal scribe were within the first thirty feet of the doorway.

If you like illuminated manuscripts, you'll be popping back and forth between the Library and the Brit Museum.

wish I would have saw this before

went to the museum but not the library

English and paris certainly feel a lot safer then US

lots of cameras and no guns except the automatic weapons the cops has makes it feel that way--only saw a few cops at various national sites.

paris the louvre/the arc/moulon rouge/the opera house/notre dame all was must see

Windsor/Buckingham guard change with the queens guard on holiday/watching the English Columbia match in Camden/heron tower/primrose hill/tower bridge/tower of London etc etc were all lifelong memories

certainly lot of angst over brixet but people are tired of open borders there and seem to be willing to take it in the chops economically for a period I guess
Parisians were a lot friendlier then I thought they'd be

twice we got into the middle of world cup celebrations blocking the road etc one in paris once in london

and somebody decided to be a bug on the windshield on our Eurostar trip on the train in front of us giving us a 3 hr delay

but did the hole trip in less then 10 with the wife--2800 round trip tics on Norwegian/5 nights off waterloo bridge on thames for 1900 3 nights in paris on le opera avenue for 1200
round trip tics on Eurostar was 520
hoponhopoff bus tour tics in london was 90 and in paris was 150 included night tour and river tour
nighttime lourve tour140
Windsor taxi ride was a hundred coming back--ubered there for 40
so maybe 6K spent on transportation and lodging another 2k in booze/food miscellaneous I suppose--gonna do it again but did cut it awful close on Saturday--paris in the morning London in the afternoon and Chicago that night
logistically that last day could have been a nighmare but everything fell into place

brits play yet today?

[Ghengis Jon]

A good place to start is eliminating the national debt. Roll back the phony tax break and pay down the principal of the debt while refusing to raise the debt ceiling. Once the debt is gone, then cut taxes to a zero sum level. Or, we can just kick the can down the road and let our children pay for it.

[Kapture1]

now the dems are real deficit hawks lol

[Dr. Strangelove]

Today Trump demanded NATO members commit to spending 4% of GDP on defense, double the current commitment. He surely pulled that figure out of his ass without consulting anyone because even the US doesn't spend that much.

[Kapture1]

by far and away the closest to that mark


nato-3_custom1.jpg?iid=EL.jpg


I mean my god in one breath the left wants to cut military spending, in the next breath the left is hammering Trump's demands that we no longer protect every NATO Nation soley on our dime.

[Kapture1]

NATO Sec: "last year was the biggest increase in defense spending by European Allies in a generation"
"Trump: Why was that; last year?"
NATO Sec: "because of your leadership. Because of your declared message"

*Trump looks right at the press

[Jeff Buchanan]

I had no understanding of the Trump tirade over Berlin's Russian Gas Pipeline deal. It was actually spot on, consistent with the behind the scenes objections to it in the past and an interesting disruptive sort of comment that typifies DJT's behavior on the international scene ..... in front of the press. I don't think any of the heads of state's there or the NATO Secretary had any idea this was going to slap them in the face. You may or may not be able to view article I linked to below that explains the history of the pipe line. Wapo has become a subscription source on-line. But you get a couple free articles before you have to subscribe to get more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.b09609a632f6

[entropy]

Today Trump demanded NATO members commit to spending 4% of GDP on defense, double the current commitment. He surely pulled that figure out of his ass without consulting anyone because even the US doesn't spend that much.

and here is one of trump's issues... the idea of NATO spending more on defense is not a bad one... speeding up is not bad.... Pulling 4% out of the air is... NATO will discredit you when the US doesn't even match the 4%.

At times I wonder if he employs the "anchor" approach to negotiations... I state something I know you will never agree with, but that forces you to compromise in my direction. But I think he's just sloppy and take ideas or thoughts and runs with them... like stating a new goal the US doesn't even achieve.

[hack]

Today Trump demanded NATO members commit to spending 4% of GDP on defense, double the current commitment. He surely pulled that figure out of his ass without consulting anyone because even the US doesn't spend that much.

[hack]

If Trump blows up Nato, the next move should be extending membership to Australia. We're going to need something to counter the Axis of Freevil.

And maybe Canada and Australia invited to join the EU. I'd be bringing it up in Canada just as an entry point to a discussion about where exactly that country stands now that it shares the world's longest undefended border with the nuclear power most likely to have a constitutional crisis in the next two years.

[Dr. Strangelove]

and here is one of trump's issues... the idea of NATO spending more on defense is not a bad one... speeding up is not bad.... Pulling 4% out of the air is... NATO will discredit you when the US doesn't even match the 4%.

At times I wonder if he employs the "anchor" approach to negotiations... I state something I know you will never agree with, but that forces you to compromise in my direction. But I think he's just sloppy and take ideas or thoughts and runs with them... like stating a new goal the US doesn't even achieve.

I think he takes an 'anchor' approach too but jumps out to an initial position that's so ridiculous that it damages his credibility.