It appears that Mr. Khan wasn't too happy about the idea at first, but his sense of humour (and, no doubt, general disgust at POTUS) have triumphed...
...and the blimp is so very English and understated!
IJ
Mr Trump hates nothing so much as being mocked, odds are he'll cancel the trip (citing "security concerns"-- and, to be fair, he is rather insecure...) rather than put himself in that position.
...can we borrow the blimp when you're done with it???
I'm not sure why this hit me so hard, except maybe that the gov't can't even treat well immigrants who are working for it!
Donald Trump (and the Republican party which has fully embraced him) are now fully anti-immigrant. They may try to parse the difference between legal and illegal immigration, but the truth is they don't like any immigrants these days. They want to cut legal immigration as deeply as possible. They're moving to strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship. So yes, discharging immigrants from the military before they meet the qualifications for citizenship is all of a piece with their overall hatred of immigrants.
I'm not sure it's hyperbolic at this point to refer to what's going on as "ethnic cleansing".
Frightening stuff - but surely there are enough sensible people in the USA to confound these outrageous politics in due course?
As regards the Orange Baby Blimp in the UK, cliffdweller, I hope it will be duly raised into the air, whether or not POTUS actually befouls our Fair Land with his odious presence.
It is a truly wondrous creation, and I'm sure we Brits will be happy to lend it to you in due course. Actually, it might prove to be a good seller - imagine one floating up over every American city!
It appears that Mr. Khan wasn't too happy about the idea at first, but his sense of humour (and, no doubt, general disgust at POTUS) have triumphed...
...and the blimp is so very English and understated!
IJ
Mr Trump hates nothing so much as being mocked, odds are he'll cancel the trip (citing "security concerns"-- and, to be fair, he is rather insecure...) rather than put himself in that position.
...can we borrow the blimp when you're done with it???
Frightening stuff - but surely there are enough sensible people in the USA to confound these outrageous politics in due course?
As regards the Orange Baby Blimp in the UK, cliffdweller, I hope it will be duly raised into the air, whether or not POTUS actually befouls our Fair Land with his odious presence.
It is a truly wondrous creation, and I'm sure we Brits will be happy to lend it to you in due course. Actually, it might prove to be a good seller - imagine one floating up over every American city!
IJ
Selfishly, I'm imagining precisely that. Because if, as predicted, the blimp proves to his kryptonite-- the one thing he can't stand to be in the same room as-- if we can at least install one at every port of entry, that means he can't come back. He's your problem. A moveable hot potato to get passed from one reluctant nation to the next, until he retires to his comfy villa in some Russian resort (because you know he has one).
I'm not sure why this hit me so hard, except maybe that the gov't can't even treat well immigrants who are working for it!
Donald Trump (and the Republican party which has fully embraced him) are now fully anti-immigrant. They may try to parse the difference between legal and illegal immigration, but the truth is they don't like any immigrants these days. They want to cut legal immigration as deeply as possible. They're moving to strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship. So yes, discharging immigrants from the military before they meet the qualifications for citizenship is all of a piece with their overall hatred of immigrants.
I'm not sure it's hyperbolic at this point to refer to what's going on as "ethnic cleansing".
Mr Cliffdweller is a green-card holder (not even naturalized). He has the Trump-approved skin color noted above, so probably safe, but we've got our deportation plan in place just in case (we're not completely paranoid-- Trump has shown himself capable of being remarkably vindictive toward lefties, even D-list lefties like us with a pathetically small sphere of influence). Fortunately for us, deportation wouldn't pose as much a hardship as for most of our southern neighbors fleeing violence.
Meanwhile in UK news, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has given permission for a tethered balloon ("blimp" to be flown over London during DT's visit - I'm sure this tribute will make him feel welcome.
Just listed on amazon.com today -- a t-shirt for those who can't (or don't want to be) in London that day.
Meanwhile in UK news, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has given permission for a tethered balloon ("blimp" to be flown over London during DT's visit - I'm sure this tribute will make him feel welcome.
I thought pigs were supposed to fly over Battersea...?
Fahrenthold's original Washington Post article citing 40 foreign workers being hired at Mar-A-Lago can be found here.
Given how dangerous it is to take sides against the people who prepare your food, why would anyone be willing to eat anything that comes out of the kitchens of Mar-A-Lago?
Given how dangerous it is to take sides against the people who prepare your food, why would anyone be willing to eat anything that comes out of the kitchens of Mar-A-Lago?
He probably orders in (anonymously) from the local McDonalds.
The balloon came up (as it were) on Any Questions tonight. I saw it, liked it, and then started thinking about all the people the Queen has had to shake hands with. I don't know what it says about us, and Trump, that we'll take the piss out of him but we'll leave the Saudis well alone.
The Saudi issue has been raised repeatedly by the current opposition leader...
But as to why there's more popular action against Trump, vis the House of Saud, is probably because we know that the American press will cover it, and therefore the American people might actually see it. Whereas the Saudi press will (like, for example the Chinese press) simply censor all mention of protest from the coverage, rendering it largely impotent.
The balloon came up (as it were) on Any Questions tonight. I saw it, liked it, and then started thinking about all the people the Queen has had to shake hands with. I don't know what it says about us, and Trump, that we'll take the piss out of him but we'll leave the Saudis well alone.
The Saudis are pretty straightforward about being dictatorial tyrants. Trump has pretensions of being a defender of freedom. That's what makes him more objectionable and, more importantly, why it's important to point out that his stance is in fact a pretense.
Quote:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” New Colossus, Emma Lazarus
Perhaps President Trump should be demolishing the Statue of Liberty, as well as building his wall...
I wouldn't be surprised if many who are pro Brexit would also be pro Trump; his unashamed racism and bigotry might well appeal to the people who voted Leave for xenophobic reasons.
He's not totally anti-immigrant -- he's married two of them.
j
As noted above, his anti-immigrant fever seems entirely racially based. But I also read a bit of personal antimocity here as well. He's never been shy about using the big sphere of public policy as a valid forum for settling petty personal scores. His relationship to his wives is so misogynistic, predicated on a power differential propped up by wealth and gender. It doesn't take much imagination, given their seemingly frosty relationship, to see the anti-immigrant rhetoric as yet another passive-aggressive way of keeping the visibly dissatisfied Melania in her place.
She who is said to have once remarked, "He married me for my looks. I married him for his money. What's wrong with that?" No, I don't feel sorry for her in the least.
She who is said to have once remarked, "He married me for my looks. I married him for his money. What's wrong with that?" No, I don't feel sorry for her in the least.
Have you ever seen a photo of her parents? There's something there for people who believe that we try and replicate childhood patterns.
We learn new despicable things each day. Using the name Pocahontas as a racist slur. Yes. It is happening. The American experiment is 242 years old, but is one election all it takes to prove it wrong? And we're all watching what your country does about the people who did this to you.
I wouldn't be surprised if many who are pro Brexit would also be pro Trump; his unashamed racism and bigotry might well appeal to the people who voted Leave for xenophobic reasons.
The news feed on my mobile phone has some very strange and erroneous ideas about what I'm interested in. At least half of it (which I never click through to) consists of such earth-shattering information as "Kate Middleton wore a dress." It also links to the Daily Hatemail and the Express. For this reason I can confirm that Melania Trump gets sympathetic coverage from the most Brexity sections of the British press. They also report on the fact that Don Jr has a girlfriend as if he was the sort of celebrity I might like and care about.
We learn new despicable things each day. Using the name Pocahontas as a racist slur. Yes. It is happening. The American experiment is 242 years old, but is one election all it takes to prove it wrong?
I think you have an overly rosy view of American history if you think racist slurs were unknown for last two and half centuries.
And T has used that particular one before, also for Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Her family lore has it that they have some Native American ancestry. I don't think there's any particular proof of that. But families have lore, and lots of Americans of other ancestries have some Native American ancestry.
Anyway, there's been some public fuss. I think the main thread was that she was claiming this for political advantage. (Madeleine Albright got a similar reaction when she found out she had Jewish ancestry. That information had been hidden, and she really didn't know. But some in the American Jewish community said she made it up for political advantage.)
T has been part of the fuss. Some have compared it to the "birther" controversy about Pres. Obama, which T pushed.
T said he'd give a huge amount of money to a charity of Sen. Warren's choice if she took a DNA test. He made a similar offer, IIRC, for proof that Obama wasn't a born American.
Wonder what T's DNA would turn up? I've heard of people who are deeply racist being very surprised at some of their own ancestry.
We learn new despicable things each day. Using the name Pocahontas as a racist slur. Yes. It is happening. The American experiment is 242 years old, but is one election all it takes to prove it wrong?
I think you have an overly rosy view of American history if you think racist slurs were unknown for last two and half centuries.
Yes, I'm too progressivist. I thought you were leaving stuff behind. That once you'd had a Nixon or McCarthy you might have learned. So Battlestar Galactica , more than I'd imagined. Trump will wear the red dress before we're done.
I totally didn't get the Battlestar Galactica stuff. Where is Lorne Greene, for example? I know the actor is dead, but what of the character? And was that supposed to be the Last Supper in that photo? Whaaaa?
I totally didn't get the Battlestar Galactica stuff. Where is Lorne Greene, for example? I know the actor is dead, but what of the character? And was that supposed to be the Last Supper in that photo? Whaaaa?
It must be intended as the Last Supper. The positions fit with da Vinci's version.
We learn new despicable things each day. Using the name Pocahontas as a racist slur. Yes. It is happening. The American experiment is 242 years old, but is one election all it takes to prove it wrong?
I think you have an overly rosy view of American history if you think racist slurs were unknown for last two and half centuries.
Yup. Racism has been a problem all through American history. It's embedded and endemic. And not just in the South. Sometimes, there's progress, but it doesn't always last.
I totally didn't get the Battlestar Galactica stuff. Where is Lorne Greene, for example? I know the actor is dead, but what of the character? And was that supposed to be the Last Supper in that photo? Whaaaa?
It must be intended as the Last Supper. The positions fit with da Vinci's version.
I'm a bit leery of that. At first blush I don't like it, but I have no context. I want to really sink the boot in, actually, but I've already said I don't know the show, so I can't pretend otherwise by making generalised criticisms, as is sometimes my modus operandi when offended and feeling spiteful. Hmm, I think its time for me to do some housework...
Comments
...can we borrow the blimp when you're done with it???
Donald Trump (and the Republican party which has fully embraced him) are now fully anti-immigrant. They may try to parse the difference between legal and illegal immigration, but the truth is they don't like any immigrants these days. They want to cut legal immigration as deeply as possible. They're moving to strip naturalized citizens of their citizenship. So yes, discharging immigrants from the military before they meet the qualifications for citizenship is all of a piece with their overall hatred of immigrants.
I'm not sure it's hyperbolic at this point to refer to what's going on as "ethnic cleansing".
As regards the Orange Baby Blimp in the UK, cliffdweller, I hope it will be duly raised into the air, whether or not POTUS actually befouls our Fair Land with his odious presence.
It is a truly wondrous creation, and I'm sure we Brits will be happy to lend it to you in due course. Actually, it might prove to be a good seller - imagine one floating up over every American city!
IJ
I’m sure it will be well used
Selfishly, I'm imagining precisely that. Because if, as predicted, the blimp proves to his kryptonite-- the one thing he can't stand to be in the same room as-- if we can at least install one at every port of entry, that means he can't come back. He's your problem. A moveable hot potato to get passed from one reluctant nation to the next, until he retires to his comfy villa in some Russian resort (because you know he has one).
Mr Cliffdweller is a green-card holder (not even naturalized). He has the Trump-approved skin color noted above, so probably safe, but we've got our deportation plan in place just in case (we're not completely paranoid-- Trump has shown himself capable of being remarkably vindictive toward lefties, even D-list lefties like us with a pathetically small sphere of influence). Fortunately for us, deportation wouldn't pose as much a hardship as for most of our southern neighbors fleeing violence.
It is indeed a dangerous time.
Just listed on amazon.com today -- a t-shirt for those who can't (or don't want to be) in London that day.
IJ
I thought pigs were supposed to fly over Battersea...?
Fahrenthold's original Washington Post article citing 40 foreign workers being hired at Mar-A-Lago can be found here.
Given how dangerous it is to take sides against the people who prepare your food, why would anyone be willing to eat anything that comes out of the kitchens of Mar-A-Lago?
He probably orders in (anonymously) from the local McDonalds.
Why indeed! And if Fox News reports it, it must be true. (Apologies to Virginia O'Hanlon's papa.)
But as to why there's more popular action against Trump, vis the House of Saud, is probably because we know that the American press will cover it, and therefore the American people might actually see it. Whereas the Saudi press will (like, for example the Chinese press) simply censor all mention of protest from the coverage, rendering it largely impotent.
The Saudis are pretty straightforward about being dictatorial tyrants. Trump has pretensions of being a defender of freedom. That's what makes him more objectionable and, more importantly, why it's important to point out that his stance is in fact a pretense.
What an infantile would-be tyrant POTUS is. Fie upon him, fie, fie, fie! The blimp says it all.
IJ
Not necessarily. If you're white you're not an immigrant, you're an "expat".
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” New Colossus, Emma Lazarus
Perhaps President Trump should be demolishing the Statue of Liberty, as well as building his wall...
IJ
Are they?
Either way, POTUS is an egregious racist bigot, who deserves every calumny heaped upon him.
Not to mention Opprobrious Epithets.
And blimps.
IJ
I Shall Wear My T-Shirt!
That'll confound him, as per one of our enemies (as mentioned in our National Anthem). May his knavish tricks also be frustrated!
IJ
As noted above, his anti-immigrant fever seems entirely racially based. But I also read a bit of personal antimocity here as well. He's never been shy about using the big sphere of public policy as a valid forum for settling petty personal scores. His relationship to his wives is so misogynistic, predicated on a power differential propped up by wealth and gender. It doesn't take much imagination, given their seemingly frosty relationship, to see the anti-immigrant rhetoric as yet another passive-aggressive way of keeping the visibly dissatisfied Melania in her place.
IJ
....in which case, the Ensorcelled One is perhaps - just perhaps - to be pitied.
A bit.
I agree, however, that YMMV.
IJ
Have you ever seen a photo of her parents? There's something there for people who believe that we try and replicate childhood patterns.
The news feed on my mobile phone has some very strange and erroneous ideas about what I'm interested in. At least half of it (which I never click through to) consists of such earth-shattering information as "Kate Middleton wore a dress." It also links to the Daily Hatemail and the Express. For this reason I can confirm that Melania Trump gets sympathetic coverage from the most Brexity sections of the British press. They also report on the fact that Don Jr has a girlfriend as if he was the sort of celebrity I might like and care about.
I think you have an overly rosy view of American history if you think racist slurs were unknown for last two and half centuries.
Anyway, there's been some public fuss. I think the main thread was that she was claiming this for political advantage. (Madeleine Albright got a similar reaction when she found out she had Jewish ancestry. That information had been hidden, and she really didn't know. But some in the American Jewish community said she made it up for political advantage.)
T has been part of the fuss. Some have compared it to the "birther" controversy about Pres. Obama, which T pushed.
T said he'd give a huge amount of money to a charity of Sen. Warren's choice if she took a DNA test. He made a similar offer, IIRC, for proof that Obama wasn't a born American.
Wonder what T's DNA would turn up? I've heard of people who are deeply racist being very surprised at some of their own ancestry.
Yes, I'm too progressivist. I thought you were leaving stuff behind. That once you'd had a Nixon or McCarthy you might have learned. So Battlestar Galactica , more than I'd imagined. Trump will wear the red dress before we're done.
I'd prefer the orange jumpsuit, but I'll take what I can get...
It must be intended as the Last Supper. The positions fit with da Vinci's version.
Yup. Racism has been a problem all through American history. It's embedded and endemic. And not just in the South. Sometimes, there's progress, but it doesn't always last.
Wikipedia's "Racism In North America" article might provide some perspective.
I'm a bit leery of that. At first blush I don't like it, but I have no context. I want to really sink the boot in, actually, but I've already said I don't know the show, so I can't pretend otherwise by making generalised criticisms, as is sometimes my modus operandi when offended and feeling spiteful. Hmm, I think its time for me to do some housework...