This has been surprisingly touching to me. I felt like I was going through a bad breakup with the country I've loved and been proud since I had memories. I didn't recognize my own nation. The same year I traced my ancestry and found out that my great grandfather x9 and x10 fought in the Revolutionary War, with their 6 brothers/sons, I watched a hostile takeover of our heritage in Mpls. But we're still us, and we can get past this.
The soft power of American sports and entertainment were never under threat, but never did much to save lives as USAID did, or to project traditional American democratic values as US-funded international broadcasting has, and to a significant extent still does.
After the Trump Administration tried to refund Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Radio Free Asia, Congress stepped up with sufficient though reduced funding to keep them working.
Hundreds of VOA staff are still being paid to sit at home, but about 200 are back at work in half a dozen languages, while the three others -- all private, non-profit grantees protected by federal court orders -- are still at work, aiming high quality programming at the peoples of authoritarian counties. RFE/RL for one remains a main source of truthful news and analysis for Russians on the brutal war their government pursues against Ukraine.
Someone had posted something to the effect of 'the World Cup has allowed cousins whose parents hate each other getting to rediscover how much they like each other' and that was very salient. Most of us truly enjoy seeing other cultures and meeting different kinds of people (or at worst indifferent), so it's nice that the world gets to see us normies behind the frothy-mouthed lunatics in DC.
I don't know if any of the hard-working staff at Drezner's World saw a story that was even on the NYT front page today about how fans are taking to the American Dream megamall across the bridge from *cough* New York New Jersey Stadium *cough*. A French fan said that if Americans know how to do one thing they know how to entertain. Because Americans are so good at knowing how to entertain a lot of the real America is considered beneath notice for foreign consumption but foreigners are delighted to encounter it.
> Because Americans are so good at knowing how to entertain a lot of the real America is considered beneath notice for foreign consumption but foreigners are delighted to encounter it.
I don’t know what you’re trying to express here.
One of the best things about Breaking Bad was that it was set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, instead of Los Angeles like so many other shows. But, Albuquerque is neither more nor less “real America” than is L.A. or NYC.
Also drags Billy Joel's "Leningrad" out of Gen X lore and comments that we have a relatively open world where it is not theoretical that even if political leaders have conflict ordinary citizens can know what friends they can have on the other side
This has been surprisingly touching to me. I felt like I was going through a bad breakup with the country I've loved and been proud since I had memories. I didn't recognize my own nation. The same year I traced my ancestry and found out that my great grandfather x9 and x10 fought in the Revolutionary War, with their 6 brothers/sons, I watched a hostile takeover of our heritage in Mpls. But we're still us, and we can get past this.
The soft power of American sports and entertainment were never under threat, but never did much to save lives as USAID did, or to project traditional American democratic values as US-funded international broadcasting has, and to a significant extent still does.
After the Trump Administration tried to refund Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, and Radio Free Asia, Congress stepped up with sufficient though reduced funding to keep them working.
Hundreds of VOA staff are still being paid to sit at home, but about 200 are back at work in half a dozen languages, while the three others -- all private, non-profit grantees protected by federal court orders -- are still at work, aiming high quality programming at the peoples of authoritarian counties. RFE/RL for one remains a main source of truthful news and analysis for Russians on the brutal war their government pursues against Ukraine.
That is, tried to DEFUND...
Someone had posted something to the effect of 'the World Cup has allowed cousins whose parents hate each other getting to rediscover how much they like each other' and that was very salient. Most of us truly enjoy seeing other cultures and meeting different kinds of people (or at worst indifferent), so it's nice that the world gets to see us normies behind the frothy-mouthed lunatics in DC.
I don't know if any of the hard-working staff at Drezner's World saw a story that was even on the NYT front page today about how fans are taking to the American Dream megamall across the bridge from *cough* New York New Jersey Stadium *cough*. A French fan said that if Americans know how to do one thing they know how to entertain. Because Americans are so good at knowing how to entertain a lot of the real America is considered beneath notice for foreign consumption but foreigners are delighted to encounter it.
> Because Americans are so good at knowing how to entertain a lot of the real America is considered beneath notice for foreign consumption but foreigners are delighted to encounter it.
I don’t know what you’re trying to express here.
One of the best things about Breaking Bad was that it was set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, instead of Los Angeles like so many other shows. But, Albuquerque is neither more nor less “real America” than is L.A. or NYC.
The post in which Freddy had never seen a Buc-ees before
(Congratulations Egypt)
Also drags Billy Joel's "Leningrad" out of Gen X lore and comments that we have a relatively open world where it is not theoretical that even if political leaders have conflict ordinary citizens can know what friends they can have on the other side