The Off Topic Topic

[Valmy]

I was about to say, winter is about 8 months long in Québec so you only need to mow about three times anyway.

[PDH]

Pfft, for you, anything below 80f is "winter"

[Grey Fox]

I was about to say, winter is about 8 months long in Québec so you only need to mow about three times anyway.

  Climate change has made it that we need to mow it in October too. Unnatural.

[Valmy]

Pfft, for you, anything below 80f is "winter"

Well...Autumn at least.

Though winter in Texas makes no freaking sense. It will be 30F one day and 80F the next.

[Valmy]

I was about to say, winter is about 8 months long in Québec so you only need to mow about three times anyway.

  Climate change has made it that we need to mow it in October too. Unnatural.

[Zanza]

Left is perceived "friends" and right is perceived "enemies" of Italy based on a recent survey. Too bad that it deteriorated like that.

[Josquius]

Wow. That seems completely backwards.

[Valmy]

Well it is not even remotely surprising. Russia and China represent a return to nationalist power politics and a rejection of the idea of international institutions and cooperation which is definitely out these days. Nationalist power politics it is, what could go wrong?

I do find it kind of funny an equal balance of Italians regard us as their friends and enemies.

[Duque de Bragança]

Some gaffes by Macron regarding in the recent past explain the bad French score. Not that Macron limits his gaffes to Italy, of course. 

[Habbaku]

I do find it kind of funny an equal balance of Italians regard us as their friends and enemies.

I think it's tragic, personally. There were times that Italians were overwhelmingly approving of the USA. I can't believe it's fallen that far.

[Josquius]

Its particularly weird considering China is to blame for Italy being an economic basket case these days as I understand it. Cheap mass manufacture used to be Italy's thing.

[Valmy]

Some gaffes by Macron regarding in the recent past explain the bad French score. Not that Macron limits his gaffes to Italy, of course. 

A few gaffes from a head of state is all that is needed for a country to become Italy's enemy? I mean they are ones to talk considering who their Prime Ministers have been.

[The Brain]

Italy still hasn't gotten enough crap for its entrance into WW1.

[Duque de Bragança]

Some gaffes by Macron regarding in the recent past explain the bad French score. Not that Macron limits his gaffes to Italy, of course. 

A few gaffes from a head of state is all that is needed for a country to become Italy's enemy? I mean they are ones to talk considering who their Prime Ministers have been.

Gaffes is being charitable. Arrogant and basically unneeded (Macron in a nutshell) comments about internal Italian politics regarding Salvini which provoked in turn a lot of Schadenfreude with the Yellow Vest crisis, virtue-signaling criticism about Italian immigration policies under Salvini (Italy in the frontline) while closing the border, some early shenanigans during the current Coronavirus crisis. Lots of countries stole confiscated contraband masks in the beginning meant for Italy it seems.
Relations are better on a state level with Conte though.

Of course, it pales to the best Macron gaffe is the "Il n'y a pas une culture française, il y a une culture en France, elle est diverse, elle est variée". Some extremely clumsy multiculturalist mumbo-jumbo which has fueled opposition to him ever since. Specially with attempts at justification such as (...) "Parce que moi, l'art français je ne l'ai jamais vu. " I guess he never watched a Truffaut movie or even a so-bad it's good French "comedy".
Guy bangs a French and Theatre teacher and still has problems with words and their meaning. 

Some jokes about Comoros and their main export (illegal immigration to Mayotte) may be funny actually, or maybe even his excessive familiarity with the president of Burkina Faso, perceived as contempt in Burkina Faso, or at least be acceptable in other environments if he were in another position.
It seems however, when granny Brigitte is around he is much less prone to gaffes, so situation can be brought under control.


Besides, coming from a Yank (sorry Texas lost the Guerre de Sécession), that's rich.  Now Berlusconi looks almost like someone one could work with, unlike Trump, a super-hyper Berlusconi.
And let us not mention George Bush Jr and his clique...

[The Larch]

Well it is not even remotely surprising. Russia and China represent a return to nationalist power politics and a rejection of the idea of international institutions and cooperation which is definitely out these days. Nationalist power politics it is, what could go wrong?

I do find it kind of funny an equal balance of Italians regard us as their friends and enemies.

It's more about short term covid-19 related stuff than long term trends.