I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!

Trump Promises Graveyard

He is such a dunderhead and really for all his claims about her, he completely disrespected her when they met by walking ahead of her, etc. and dragged his entire family along as grifters. Don't remember any other president who made meeting her into a side show.

I agree. There is no one I can think of off-hand who is such a totally hopeless mess without an ounce of class. I do recall ?? reading ?? hearing how he was told by those around at the time ( his dad would have been one of the people ) to stay out of Manhattan. His dad realized that the lifestyle and way of doing business was not too compatible much out of places like Queens. Well tell that to the narcissist hte Loon already was. He went full speed ahead and for the most part ended up with the just desserts his father wared him about. Non-acceptance by the famous and or well off of places like Manhattan. So now Florida gets all the pleasure .

(Recent essay I posted on FB)

Buckle in for a rant, but you deserve to see the bigger picture.It's easy to blame low pay and poor working conditions on greedy CEOs, and that's absolutely part of the equation. But it also comes from a much bigger beast that has created the current definitions of "successful" v. "failing" companies - Wall Street and traded stocks.

Publicly traded companies live and die by their stock prices. Stock prices are driven by a company's growth rate. The higher the growth rate, the higher the price. But to maintain that high stock price, the company has to continue their growth rate every single year. So a $500,000 company with a typical 20% growth rate would need to increase their profits for the year by $100,000. Not just show a profit of $100,000, but INCREASE their profits by $100,000. The next year, they would need to increase profits by $120,000 (20% of last year's $600,000 value). The year after that, they will need to increase profits again by a further $144,000 (20% of $720,000). And so on, and so on, with an obligation not just to bring in profit, but bring in an ever growing profit.

That logarithmic growth is simply not sustainable for the long term. It also paints profitable companies as failing companies. If a company's projected growth is 20%, but it only grows by 10%, that company has failed and the stock price will drop. The company is still making a profit - the company has in fact increased its profits by an additional 10%. But that isn't the projected 20% growth, so it's branded as a failure.

When a business hits a growth plateau - either because of shifting consumer interest, or simply saturating the market - the company has to get creative with their accounting. P = R-E -- Profit equals Revenue minus Expenses. If they can no longer depend on an ever increasing Revenue (which we know they won't always have), they turn to cutting Expenses to maintain Profit. Companies pitch the "Let's do more with less!" idea. Layoffs and pay freezes to reduce payroll. Postponing plans for facility repairs or safety upgrades to reduce maintenance costs. Reduction of benefit plans, bonuses, training, and employee support programs. All so that an unreasonable and artificially bolstered growth in profit can be maintained to make a good showing on Wall Street.

So it's not just the CEOs. It's the entire growth-centered economic system that has painted a ridiculously narrow picture of what a "successful" company looks like. Just making ends meet with a little extra at the end of the day isn't enough for a company. So the workers who ARE just making ends meet, who might or might not have a little extra at the end of the day, get to suffer for Wall Street's greed.

exbrnxgrl, that is technically true, but it was very much ghost writtten. That was a beautiful speech and the Loon is not capable of that. Had he wrote it, somewhere in it he would have started castigating people ( likely Democrats ) for some imaginary thing he made up or some conspiracy he heard. For him it was a rather long speech which to me is another indication that he did not write it. That said though -- he or his people, were not about to let an event ( so very sad ) pass by and him not say anything. I think too -- perhpas a subtle reminder that he indeed, along with all of our " good " presidents did indeed get an audience with the Queen.

Basically, it was a very nice speech and likely better than not doing it -- even if ghost written.

I have no knowledge of whether he wrote it or not but that wasn't my point. My point was that a statement was issued by him contrary to what pupmom wrote. Determining the sincerity of it or if someone else wrote is another issue.

exbrnxgrl, I know that there really was a 'speech'. I guess my point was I truly believed though, had no one ( other people/writers ) intervened to make sure, I have rather large doubts the Loon would have done ANYTHING. Everything is basically ( one way or the other ) about him. Others around him are peripheral stage props more than anything else. It is almost beyond my imagination that anyone could feel so little about others and be that wrapped up in themselves, but that is why he so often is allowed to move on with little more than the blink of an eye.

But yes, there really was a speech.

It’s being said Charles will rule differently. His interests in climate change and conservation, once considered peculiar and boring interests of his decades ago are of vital importance in today’s world. He also is said to be broader minded when it comes to religion, being not only a defender of the Anglican faith but the free practice of different faiths as well; being more inclusive about spirituality. He also wants to “slim down” the monarchy and it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. He already made William the Prince of Wales, something that didn’t have to be done immediately, and I think it’s smart to quickly take care of the obvious.

What brought tears to my eyes was a clip the news showed of Queen Elizabeth breaking tradition and having the Military Band play The Star Spangled Banner during the Changing of the Guards several days after 9/11. Something about seeing the British uniforms but hearing the U.S. national anthem caught me off guard and immediately struck me in an emotional way.

Divine, I had forgotten this. Did my heart good to come across it.

I guess I'm not so interested in who was the queen's favorite as accuracies could change through the years and some likes could grow to include others, but just pleased that she had great remarks and fine regard for one of my all time favorites ( if not so far the favorite ) of mine in Barack Obama. I am just pleased and happy that she regarded him highly and would have made some time for him had he come back at some later date. I guess the rest are just the sprinkles on the cake as they say.

Or someone around him had enough sense to issue the statement.

I think one of the saddest things that Trump and his MAGA movement has unleashed is that it has become normalized to demonize those one disagrees with politically. I even felt nervous sharing a positive story that involved Ronald Reagan with you all.

The Ronald Reagan/Queen Elizabeth story did not offend me in any way, Ruth. Stories like that always interest me. The part that really stood out to me was that Reagan enjoyed Mexican cuisine! As a side note, the Notorious (and liberal) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was great friends with conservative Justice Anthony Scalia, and in fact their families vacationed together, celebrated New Year's together and the two shared a love of opera. This despite their vast idealogical differences. The Monarchy of England is to be strictly non-political, anyway, so Elizabeth was not endorsing Reagan's politics but had a friendship that transcended it.

One reason I like books is because a more in depth detailing of facts is presented. Brief social media comments can slant information, taking it out of context or not tell the whole story and making it seem like it's the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it may be only partially true.

True -- people can have great friendships that have little to do and possibly almost nothing where politics are concerned. Sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes. I guess I just didn't want to take away ( a sort of mom likes you better ) from Pres. Obama who I so admired. I presume ( hope ) I would have been as eager to share about Pres. Regan whom I didn't particularily like ( I thought Nancy brought a lot of style and maturity to the White House ) had I known that story. I think I am thin-skinned in much of what I like and admire. Please accept my apologies.

I would have to say that I still feel the Loon did not write the speech presented from him. He is known to be crude and infatile and wouldn't suddenly change for one speech. But it is my opinion which I will keep since it seems to me to be in tune with the person known as Donald Trump.

The next few months are sure going to be interesting. Not only here but in UK as well. I'm awaiting how things will go with DOJ and Judge Cannon which will be quite interesting too.