European Perceptions of the United States of America

Exploring AI's take on how Europeans perceive Americans, these images reflect the tool's interpretations by state. The results range from hilarious to somewhat accurate, providing a playful glimpse into the AI's perspective on American culture through a European lens. Take a humorous journey through these AI-generated portrayals that capture the essence of this unique cross-cultural perception.

Alabama
In the lens of AI-guided European perceptions, Alabamians are whimsically portrayed as rugged, elderly individuals. The comical depiction features an older gentleman with deep blue eyes, scraggly facial hair, and a few missing teeth—a character with a story to tell. The weathered white tee that AI clothes him in seems to have seen better days.

Imgur.com

However, this depiction doesn't quite mirror the reality of the Heart of Dixie, which boasts a rich history and a diverse populace with a median age of 38. While the state undeniably exudes southern charm, AI's imaginative portrayal adds a wild touch to the perception of Alabama.   READ MORE...

US Math Scores Down Again

Math scores for American 15-year-olds dropped to an all-time low between 2018 and 2022, according to the latest results of an international exam, the first large-scale study marking the pandemic's impact on education. The Program for International Student Assessment, representing 620,000 students throughout 81 education systems in 38 countries, compares math, reading, and science academic performance.


The US saw a 13-point drop in its average math score—from 478 (of 1,000) in 2018 to 465 in 2022—with one in three students scoring below the basic level of proficiency. US reading and science scores stayed mostly even. The US ranked sixth in reading, 10th in science, and 26th in math among participating countries, an improvement from 2018 (largely because of declines in other countries). 


Overall, the average math score across participating countries fell by 15 points—the equivalent of three-quarters of a year of learning. International reading scores fell by 11 points, while science scores remained relatively steady.   READ MORE...

Americans Not Paying Off Their Debt

Credit-card balances hit $986 billion in the fourth quarter last year and remained largely unchanged in the first quarter of this year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its most recent quarterly report on household debt. It looks increasingly likely that credit-card debt is on track to hit the $1 trillion mark this year, and experts say that this number could be an indicator of a looming economic downturn.

This has raised eyebrows among some observers, because people typically pay off their debts from the holiday season in the first quarter of the year. That did not happen this year. This was the first time credit-card debt did not make its customary dip between the fourth and first quarters since the end of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, New York Fed researchers said. That was a recession marked by the end of the dotcom bubble.

“Although inflation is slowing and wages are starting to rise, inflation is still squeezing people’s budgets,” said Mary Eschelbach Hansen, a professor of economics at the American University in Washington, D.C., and author of “Bankrupt in America: A History of Debtors, Their Creditors, and the Law in the Twentieth Century.”

But she said she doubts that the biggest problem is people splurging on gifts over the holidays or postpandemic “revenge travel” that they are now unable to pay off. “It seems likely that part of the fourth-quarter run-up in balances went towards groceries and other everyday bills rather than holiday expenditures, and folks are having a harder time paying that back,” she said.

Others shared her concerns. “I see several worrying trends here,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. “Credit-card debt is something that’s easy to get into and hard to get out of. More people carrying balances at higher rates for longer periods of time is definitely a bad combination. We’re seeing more people financing day-to-day essentials on credit cards.”  READ MORE...

Americans Relocating to Europe

With rising interest rates, the COVID-19 pandemic that gave many a new perspective on life and the sting of inflation, more Americans are now looking to Europe for a more relaxed lifestyle.

Countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece are luring in overseas buyers seeking more of the calm, sun-filled beach days, according to a report by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

The rising interest in moving to these countries can be contributed to many workers who are still working remotely since the onset of the pandemic.

“We don’t expect activity to be near the levels we saw in 2021 or the first part of 2022, but the Spanish market has been very resilient,” Ugo Bagration, head of business expansion at the agency’s office in Marbella, said in the report. “It’s proving to be a hub and destination for foreign investment within the real estate market.”

Spain has seen an influx of buyers from North America due its affordability, Bagration explained. That being said, because of the high property taxes in the country, others are opting for countries with less of a burden, such as Italy.

Rome in particular, is seeing more high-net-worth families investing in property, as many residences have been updated in recent years, according to Marcus Benussi, managing partner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.  READ MORE...

Recession Proof Industries

Warnings about a looming recession have reached a fever pitch. Inflation continues to soar, causing chaos in the stock market, and companies are starting to prepare for the worst with layoffs, hiring freezes and, in some extreme cases, rescinding job offers.

The sudden shift in labor market dynamics — after months of strong job prospects and rising wages for employees — has left many working Americans scratching their heads.

“Job prospects are going to get much worse” in the next few months, Laurence Ball, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, tells CNBC Make It. “The question is: ‘How much worse?’”

If you’re thinking of changing roles soon, you should know that while no job is completely recession-proof, certain industries tend to fare worse than others during a downturn.

During the Great Recession, which lasted from 2007 to 2009, the construction and manufacturing sectors experienced sizable dips in employment, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s because during an economic downturn, people usually limit their discretionary spending and delay big purchases, including cars and new homes, says Karen Dynan, an economics professor at Harvard University and former chief economist at the U.S. Treasury. She predicts that these industries will see similar patterns if a recession were to occur soon.  READ MORE...

88% of Americans Say US On The Wrong Track

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say the country is headed on the wrong track, according to a survey from Monmouth University Poll released on Tuesday.

The survey found that just 10 percent said the country is headed in the right direction — an all-time low since the pollster began asking the question in 2013 — while 88 percent said it is on the wrong track.

The proportion of respondents who said the country is on the wrong track jumped by 9 percentage points from when the question was asked in May, which was also a record at the time.

Only 6 percent of Republicans said the country is headed in the right direction, compared to 18 percent of Democrats. Ninety-two percent of Republicans said the country has gotten off on the wrong track, as do 91 percent of independents and 8 in 10 Democrats.

Older Americans were more likely to believe the country is headed in the right direction.

Sixteen percent of those aged 55 and older said the U.S. is  headed in the right direction, compared to 8 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 5 percent of those aged 18 to 34.

Monmouth conducted interviews both before and after the Supreme Court voted late last month to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, ending the constitutional right to abortion.    READ MORE...

Belief in God Drops

The percentage of Americans who say they believe in God has dipped to the lowest number in the past nearly 80 years, according to a new Gallup poll published Friday.

The Values and Belief poll, conducted from May 2 to 22, showed 81% of people answered that they believe in God. That is down six percentage points from the 87% of respondents who said they believed in God in the 2017 poll. This year is the lowest percentage in Gallup’s trend since the public opinion polling company first asked the question in 1944.

This year’s poll found 17% of Americans said they do not believe in God.

When asking the question first in 1944, again in 1947, and twice each in the 1950s and 1960s, a consistent 98% of respondents said they believed in God. When Gallup asked the question nearly five decades later, in 2011, 92% of Americans said they believed in God.

A subsequent survey in 2013 found belief in God dipping below 90% to 87%, roughly where it stood in three subsequent updates between 2014 and 2017 before this year's drop to 81%.

The poll found that the belief in God has plummeted the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum, namely liberals and Democrats.  READ MORE...

Americans Avoid Going to Work

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said he expects China to produce "some very strong companies" because of the country's workforce.

"There's just a lot of super-talented, hardworking people in China who strongly believe in manufacturing," Musk said in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday.

"They won't just be burning the midnight oil. They will be burning the 3 a.m. oil," he continued. "They won't even leave the factory type of thing, whereas in America people are trying to avoid going to work at all."

Musk himself famously slept on the floor of Tesla's Fremont factory during the "production hell" for the Model 3.

"I wanted my circumstances to be worse than anyone else at the company," he told Bloomberg in 2018. "Whenever they felt pain, I wanted mine to be worse."

Last month, workers at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory were required to sleep at the facility as production resumed following a three-week shutdown, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A memo, which Bloomberg reported, indicated that each worker would be provided with a sleeping bag and an air mattress and expected to work 12-hour shifts with one day off per week.

But workplace tides may be shifting in China after tech workers there protested the "996" schedule that had many working 72 hours per week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six days.  READ MORE...

Hire Ukrainians Instead of Americans

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman (right) has advocated for U.S. companies to hire Ukrainians who are "grateful" over Americans who allegedly do not work as hard.

In a Tuesday tweet, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management said he had dinner with a number of startup CEOs who had complained about the work ethic of young American engineers. He suggested that employers should instead look to hiring people from Ukraine as Russia's invasion of the country continues.

"Tonight I had dinner with 15 startup CEOs who bemoaned the work ethic of young US engineers, particularly compared with those from emerging countries," Ackman wrote. "Idea: recruit engineers from @Ukraine. They are extremely talented, hard working and grateful, and you will be doing good."

Ackman's comments come as the COVID-19 pandemic's Great Resignation saw record numbers of people in the U.S. quitting their jobs, with many young people taking advantage of the labor shortage to seek roles that provide an attractive work-life balance and better pay and benefits.  READ MORE...

Top Problem is INFLATION Since 1985

The share of Americans who rate inflation as the top issue facing the country is at the highest in nearly 40 years, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday.

About one in five Americans, or 17%, surveyed March 1-18 cited inflation as the nation’s most important problem. That’s up from 10% in February, and compares with 4% who pointed to fuel prices in particular.

U.S. consumer prices are rising at the fastest pace in four decades, outpacing wage gains and fanned further by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Gas prices are near record highs -- well over $4 a gallon nationwide -- especially straining lower-income families.

Among those polled -- a little over 1,000 U.S. adults -- 22% say the government is the top problem outside of the economy, while 9% cited the war in Ukraine. The share citing the coronavirus fell to the lowest level since the pandemic began.

Similar to a University of Michigan survey -- which showed U.S. consumer sentiment remained at a decade low in March -- inflation concerns diverge sharply from a political perspective. Nearly 80% of Republicans are worried about inflation, more than double the proportion of Democrats, according to Gallup.   SOURCE:  Bloomberg      READ MORE...

America's Billionaires Control Americans

A new study reveals how the wealthy engage in ‘stealth politics’: quietly advancing unpopular, inequality-exacerbating, highly conservative policies

If we judge US billionaires by their most prominent fellows, they may seem to be a rather attractive bunch: ideologically diverse (perhaps even tending center-left), frank in speaking out about their political views, and generous in philanthropic giving for the common good – not to mention useful for the goods and jobs they have helped produce.

The very top titans – Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates – have all taken left-of-center stands on various issues, and Buffett and Gates are paragons of philanthropy. The former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is known for his advocacy of gun control, gay rights, and environmental protection. George Soros (protector of human rights around the world) and Tom Steyer (focused on young people and environmental issues) have been major donors to the Democrats. 

In recent years, investigative journalists have also brought to public attention Charles and David Koch, mega-donors to ultra-conservative causes. But given the great prominence of several left-of-center billionaires, this may merely seem to right the balance, filling out a picture of a sort of Madisonian pluralism among billionaires.

Unfortunately, this picture is misleading. Our new, systematic study of the 100 wealthiest Americans indicates that Buffett, Gates, Bloomberg et al are not at all typical. Most of the wealthiest US billionaires – who are much less visible and less reported on – more closely resemble Charles Koch. 

They are extremely conservative on economic issues. Obsessed with cutting taxes, especially estate taxes – which apply only to the wealthiest Americans. Opposed to government regulation of the environment or big banks. Unenthusiastic about government programs to help with jobs, incomes, healthcare, or retirement pensions – programs supported by large majorities of Americans. Tempted to cut deficits and shrink government by cutting or privatizing guaranteed social security benefits.

How can this be so? If it is true, why aren’t voters aware and angry about it?  READ MORE...

Why is Joe Biden so Unpopular?

It's in a two-minute TV ad narrated in authoritative and reassuring tones by none other than Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks. It was in a graphics and light display outside the White House on Wednesday night, when the Democratic National Committee showcased record job numbers and vaccination progress. It's in the avalanche of fact sheets from the administration detailing President Joe Biden's 2021 accomplishments, and it was in the sometimes-exasperated voice of Biden himself Wednesday as he pleaded his case for a good freshman year grade.

If there were an avatar to accompany the PR campaign, it would be an image of the baffled president, lifting America up by its collective lapels and screaming, "What is wrong with you people? Why don't you LIKE ME!?"

The frustration is understandable. On paper, the Biden administration has racked up some impressive achievements: more than 6 million new jobs were created, a single-year record. Unemployment dropped from 6.2% to 3.9%, another single-year first. Childhood poverty and hunger are down while average wages went up. Biden has the first majority non-white Cabinet in history and presides over the most diverse administration in history. He passed a massive COVID-19 relief bill and an expansive infrastructure package many previous presidents tried and failed to achieve.

But as polling consistently shows, American voters don't like Biden – or at least, they don't think he's doing a good job. An average of current polling shows the president with an anemic 41.7% approval rating, with 53.4% disapproving of him. And while high inflation has alarmed many Americans, Biden's slide in the polls began last August, before prices started to jump.  READ MORE...

Americans Quit Jobs

New York (CNN Business)A record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September as the sheer volume of available jobs is empowering workers to have their pick.

Workers are quitting in search for better pay or better jobs, representing a fundamental shift in America's labor market.

"Labor now has the initiative, and the era of paying individuals less than a livable wage has ended," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US.

"This strongly suggests that rising wages are going to be part and parcel of the economic landscape going forward."

The nation had 10.4 million open jobs that month as the worker shortage crisis continues, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday. It was a modest decrease from the 10.6 million open jobs in August.

Jobs particularly increased in the health care and sector and in state and local government. "The Delta variant is still visible in the September JOLTS report," said Nick Bunker, director of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, in emailed comments.

But he noted "we do know from the October jobs report that the labor market did get on more stable ground."The slowing demand for workers in the leisure and hospitality industry was the cause of the modest decline in available jobs in September. READ MORE...

Milllennials Approve of Communism

This month, 31-year-old Arizona state representative Daniel Hernandez (D-Tucson) mocked the notion that communist ideology was a threat to American society. He remarked in a jocular tone: “We keep hearing about the threat of communism,” that it’s a “great threat, it is such a bad threat. You know what’s a bigger threat? White nationalism.”

Mr. Hernandez’s comments drew the ire of state representative Quang Nguyen (R-Prescott Valley), who, at 12-years-old, left Tan Son Nhut airport in Vietnam a week before the fall of Saigon.

Mr. Nguyen responded to his Democratic colleague’s comments by recounting his own experience as a refugee: “So let me tell you something about white nationalism. White nationalism didn’t drown 250,000 Vietnamese in the South China Sea. The communists did. White nationalism did not execute 86,000 South Vietnamese at the fall of Saigon. Communists did. White nationalism did not put me here. Communism did. So, don’t take it lightly. Don’t mock me. Don’t mock what I go through in life. It’s rough. I lost most of my cousins, my family members due to communism. If we don’t stand up to teach communism to our children, we’ll lose this country. So sir, don’t mock me.”  READ MORE

Harris Losing Fans

The Biden-Harris administration has been in office for six months, and the American people are not fans of Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a Morning Consult-POLITICO poll released on Wednesday.

Tucked at the end of the results are favorability ratings for various political figures, including the vice president.

The poll was conducted July 16-18, with a sample size of 1,997 registered voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Just 45 percent of respondents have a favorable view of Harris, compared to 47 percent who have an unfavorable view.

More men, at 48 percent, have a favorable view of Harris, compared to the 47 percent who have an unfavorable view. Women, however, are not fans of the vice president, with 43 percent having a favorable view, compared to the 47 percent who have an unfavorable view.

So few Republican women, at 3 percent, have a favorable view of Harris, that it’s possible that with the margin of error that the Vice President has virtually no support from the demographic.

Republican women have a more favorable rating of President Joe Biden, at 9 percent.

Those demographics which have equally or even more significant non-support for Harris include the 2 percent favorable ratings from those who strongly disapprove of the job Biden is doing and the 1 percent who have a very unfavorable view of Biden.

The vice president has most of her support from Democrats and Liberals, at 85 percent each, as well as from 86 percent of Democratic women. Slightly more of respondents who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, at 85 percent, have a favorable view of her than the 82 percent of respondents who voted for Joe Biden in 2020.  READ MORE

Preparing to Retire

East coasters are best positioned to retire with flush nest eggs than Americans in other parts of the country, according to new data.

Connecticut residents have the highest retirement savings account balances out of the entire country with an average of $523,568 saved per household, according to data from Personal Capital, an online financial advisor and personal wealth management company. The analysis is based on balances of IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s of 2.8 million anonymous users across the country.

Other New England and Mid-Atlantic states follow Connecticut, such as New Hampshire (No. 2) with an average of $494,562 saved, New Jersey (No. 3) with an average of $489,664, and Virginia (No. 5) with $468,579 saved. The geographic outlier is Alaska (No. 4) with an average balance of $489,070.  READ MORE

Americans and Politics

 

Most Americans...  and, I use that word liberally...  don't give a rat's ass about politics...  that is to say that they are either liberal or conservative but they do not let the opposing party's leadership negatively influence their day-to-days lives...  They work and play regardless of what party is in power and regardless of immigration and regardless of taxes or the cost of living...

Most Americans simply try to do the best they can, given their opportunities and limitations and don't piss and moan if things do not go their way...  like a lot of these BLACKS are doing...

Most Americans are white (60% of the population) but they do not think their lives have been based or predicated upon WHITE PRIVILEGE...  although, they do believe that the WEALTHY WHITES have been living a life based upon or predicated upon white privilege...  but, there is really nothing that they can do about it...  so they just GO WITH THE FLOW...

Personally...  I really don't give a shit about the wealthy whites or black lives matter or cancel culture, the WOKE Mob, the tearing down of Confederate Statues, Slavery, or the Defunding of the police...  in fact, I hope the police are reduced or re-indoctrinated or restructured...  BUT what I cannot tolerate is TAX INCREASES...

If illegal immigrants move into my location, I will simply ignore them as I have always done...  My retired life will continue regardless of what happens here...  if America changes...  then, it frigging changes...  Life goes on for me...

Who Are We As A People

I look around the rest of the world and I see the:

• British
• Scots
• Irish
• Germans
• Italians
• Spanish
• Russians
• Egyptians
• Arabs
• Chinese
• Japanese, etc., etc., etc.

I look around at those living in the USA and I see:

• Blacks or People of Color or African Americans
• Native Americans
• Caucasians or Non-Hispanic Whites
• Hispanics & Latinos
• Asians

AND...  if I am not mistaken, there are...

people of color in ever country for the most part...

there are white people living in other countries...

there are Asians and others...

BUT... only in America do we classify the races...

In AMERICA, I see a country that is tearing itself apart with ideologies and hatred and the guest for MONEY, POWER, and CONTROL has left us fighting each other instead of becoming unified...

AND...  if we are really serious, then the term Americans pertains to all residents of the AMERICAS which includes:

• Canada
• United States of America
• Central America
• South America

AND...  while we are fighting each other to maintain the sanctity of our individual races, the following areas are suffering:

1. EDUCATION
2. HEALTHCARE
3. FREEDOMS
4. POVERTY
5. DISABLED VETERANS

WHAT CONCERNS ME MOST OF ALL IS...

we talk and talk about more and more people having free college education but we do not talk at all about the QUALITY of that EDUCATION...  and, it really does not matter how many people have college degrees if they learned very little when competing with the rest of the world whose countries took their education seriously and improved the QUALITY...

We can offer healthcare to more and more people to show everyone how great we are, but if the efficacy and quality are not there from the getgo then all we have done is mislead the general public, giving them something they don't need or that does not help...

SIMPLY GIVING MORE COLLEGE EDUCATION AND MORE HEALTHCARE TO MORE AND MORE PEOPLE...  DOES NOT MAKE US SMART...  IT ACTUALLY MAKES US RATHER STUPID...  ONCE WE ARE COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH WHOM WE MUST COMPETE...

AMERICAN RETIREES: Go To Jail -- Live Large

FACTS:

The average Social Security check in 2020 was $1,503/month or $18,036/year

In 2020, 40% of all retirees received all their income from Social Security 

60% of all Americans above 60 years of age are living below the poverty line of $29,425/year

Seniors in financial trouble should commit a crime or multiple crimes so that they can be guaranteed jail time...

IN JAIL, INMATES HAVE

1. a place to sleep
2. a roof over their heads
3. clothes to wear
4. three meals a day
5. a craft to learn
6. warm showers
7. games to play
8. medical care
9. visitors
10. time outside
11. time alone
12. people to be with

It may not be the IDEAL place to die but it could be better than what they have, especially if they are living on the streets or cannot pay their bills...

In East TN, if a married couple received the average SOCIAL SECURITY check, then their combined income would be $3,006/month or $36, 0732/year which is above the poverty line and very doable to live...  but, only if you are married and/or living together...  living alone can be incredible problematic.

Without family or friends or help from the government, the ONLY LOGICAL COURSE OF ACTION is to GO TO JAIL for the REST OF ONE'S LIFE...

WELCOME TO AMERICA

HOME OF THE BRAVE

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

DEATH FOR RETIREES

The US of A is RACIST or So I've Been Told by Blacks

The African Americans, Blacks, American Blacks, People of Color...  BUT NEVER JUST
AMERICANS, would have you believe that all Caucasians or White Crackers or Honkies are racists because several white policemen were racially biased and motivated.

Using this logic then all BLACKS are like MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr. and his followers which we KNOW FOR ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY is not the case here in America...

So, why do we have this CONTRADICTION in how the blacks perceive each other and the white Americans with whom they have chosen to live, work, die, and defend against foreign aggression?

If all white Americans were like those racist cops then more black people would be DEAD....

If all black people were like MLK Jr., then there would be no violent protesting or white cops DEAD...

• But, neither case is true
• And, neither case has been true
• And, neither case will be true in this country

BECAUSE WE HAVE RACISM ON BOTH SIDES...

Black People and all of those Blacks who want to use their COLOR as an EXCUSE for their FAILURES will ALWAYS CLAIM that the majority race with whom they live are RACIST AS A WHOLE.

Let me make one thing perfectly CLEAR...

• I don't live with Blacks
• I don't live with African Americans
• I don't live with People of Color
• I don't live with Native Americans
• I don't live with Asians
• I don't live with Hispanics or Latinos

I LIVE WITH CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALWAYS WILL NO MATTER WHAT I'M BEING TOLD... by Blacks or anyone else for that matter...