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Saturday, August 31, 2024

British Writer Describes Trump

From the London Daily - 

Copied in its entirety from Nate White's article as found in the London Daily - It is too good to cherry-pick - Faye

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British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read

Nate White

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

#Donald Trump 

https://londondaily.com/british-writer-pens-the-best-description-of-trump-i-ve-read?sfnsn=mo

Where Folks Cuss a Lot

An excerpt from Readers' Digest - 

This State’s Residents Curse the Most (Hint: It’s Not New York!)

By Kiersten Hickman

Well, dang. This state sure loves a good cussing.

In some cases, swearing makes you feel better. No, really! There’s science behind it. Research shows that profanity can help keep your emotions in check and positively correlates with honesty. It can even reduce your perception of pain. Pardon our French, but cursing comes in handy, gosh darn it!

So if you can’t help but swear, well, that’s not such a bad thing. Still, swearing isn’t for everyone. In fact, a new survey shows that residents of some states use more profanity than others.

To find out which U.S. state is the “sweariest” of them all, WordTips analyzed 1.7 million English-language geotagged posts on the social platform X (formally Twitter) and used a database of 1,600 profanities to uncover the most and least foul-mouthed places. Read on to find out which states’ residents curse the most and which are most likely to refrain from using profanity.

What other states round out the top five?

Along with Maryland, here are the states that tend to use the most curse words online (plus their average number of curse-word-laden posts):

Maryland (66.3 posts on average)

Louisiana (61.7 posts on average)

Georgia (57.4 posts on average)

Virginia (47.6 posts on average)

Ohio (47.3 posts on average)

After Ohio, many other states averaged in the 45-post range, including Mississippi (45.9), Pennsylvania (45.7), New Jersey (45.5), Nevada (45.5), Michigan (45.3) and Illinois (45).

https://www.rd.com/article/states-swear-the-most/

⭐ Sewing Trick. The Easiest Way to Sew a Stylish Shopping Bag (Part #86)


Mind-Blowing Kitchen Tips 🤯 Part Two

Please watch on YouTube using the link below.  


Flood Barriers


Most-Spoken Languages Besides English And Spanish

An excerpt from Mental Floss - 

The Most-Spoken Language Besides English and Spanish in Every State, Mapped

The analysis from WordFinderX took a deep dive into the languages of the United States—and revealed some fascinating trends along the way.

By Paul Anthony Jones 

The United States is, famously, a linguistic melting pot, with estimates ranging from 350 to as many as 430 different languages being used across the country.

Out of all those, English understandably comes out on top nationwide. Almost four-fifths of Americans reported in the last census that they only speak English at home, making English America’s de facto official language (though, oddly, no de jure official language has ever been legally or formally recognized in the United States). After that, Spanish is America’s second most widely-spoken language, used in 62 percent of non-English speaking households, and giving America the world’s second-largest Spanish-speaking population, after Mexico.



But what would happen if we were to take English and Spanish off the table, and look instead at how the other 400 or so languages of the United States are used? A fascinating new analysis has done precisely that.

Language blog WordFinderX took household population data from the last census to discover the most spoken languages—outside of English and Spanish—across the United States. Breaking down the Census Bureau data by regions, states, major cities, and even individual districts and neighborhoods showed just how linguistically diverse American households truly are, and revealed some surprising geographic and linguistic trends in the process.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/most-spoken-language-in-every-state-besides-english-and-spanish-map

Let's Give Our Girls a Heads Up

An excerpt from YourTango - 

12 Lessons Most Women Learn Too Late In Life

We all want to better ourselves, but learning how isn't always easy.

By Marielisa Reyes

Here are 12 lessons most women learn too late in life


1. You're responsible for how people treat you

                                                                     Dragana Gordic | Shutterstock

We've all been disrespected or undermined, and in the moment we might feel like nobody respects us or people don't know how to treat us right. But the reality of the situation is this: you are responsible for how people treat you.

You set the limits and you set the boundaries. And if someone treats you with disrespect, you step away from them. Because if you don't, this will only lead to more disrespect later down the road.

In fact, one study found that those who are disrespected have cynical views about human nature. This, in turn, leads to treating yourself and others with disrespect, and losing the respect of people around you.


2. Attitude is everything

                                                                Andrea Piacquadio | Pexels

Whether we had a bad morning or a raging headache, most of us struggle to keep a positive mindset. Even more, most of us learn far too late what a change in mindset can accomplish.

For instance, multiple studies have shown that a change in mindset leads to greater motivation and academic success among students. According to an additional study, "Positive thinking and interventions can increase older adults' resilience, and thereby improve their quality of life. High quality of life can lead to greater life satisfaction."

So, even when it's hard, find things to be grateful for each and every day. Focus on the positives throughout your day and keep yourself in high spirits — your overall health depends on it. 


4. Actions speak louder than words

New Africa | Shutterstock

According to licensed counselor Lee Wichman, "The unconscious is incredibly powerful and one's behaviors cannot help but betray one's true sentiments." This means that if a friend or partner says, "I care about you," but their actions don't align, they likely don't care or value you.

It's a tough pill to swallow for most, but it's important to truly understand the meaning of that phrase. Because if we don't, we might find ourselves in relationships that drain us instead of inspire us.


https://www.yourtango.com/self/lessons-most-women-learn-too-late-life

Costco Snacks Rated

From CouponBirds - 



At-Home Salad Bar

 


https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-ySg7tJTzL/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading 

Magnificent Time Covers For Sale

From Time - 

Chadwick Boseman

https://timecoverstore.com/collections/100+years+of+time

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Why "Windy City?"

An excerpt from Readers' Digest - 

The Surprising Reason Why Chicago Is Called the "Windy City"

It's got nothing to do with the weather.

By Meghan Jones

Grey Tree Studios/Shutterstock

When you hear someone mention the “Windy City,” you immediately know they’re talking about Chicago, as surely as the “Big Apple” means New York and “Sin City” refers to Las Vegas. Knowing this, you might make sure to pack your best windbreaker for your first trip to Illinois’ biggest city. But it turns out that, while Chicago is as prone to a blustery day as any other metropolis, its wind isn’t particularly exceptional. How did the city get this nickname?


Well, when the nickname came to be, the “Windy City” meaning wasn’t describing the weather but the people. (Don’t worry, not that kind of wind.) Nineteenth-century journalists first gave Chicago this designation when criticizing the city’s elite as “full of hot air.” In the Chicago Daily Tribune, a reporter wrote in 1858 that “[a] hundred militia officers, from corporal to commander … air their vanity … in this windy city.” Another reporter, a proud citizen of Milwaukee, boasted that his own city was the better of the two: “We are proud of Milwaukee because she is not overrun with a lazy police force as is Chicago—because her morals are better … than Chicago, the windy city of the West.” They meant that the city was full of “windbags,” people with inflated egos who cared about nothing but profit. (Learn these 12 signs someone has a massive ego.)

https://www.rd.com/article/chicago-windy-city/