 of the world? Who benefits and who loses when nationalism is used as a justification for military interventions such as the War in Iraq? Do you see any exploitation of nationalism in the "War on Terrorism," for example, the drumming up of support during President Bush's policy on Iraq by creating fear and perceptions that the Iraqi insurgents are threatening American freedom? Does the anti-immigration movement in the USA reflect a similar focus on patriotism, terrorism and policy formation in the USA (for example - tying the building of a wall on the Mexican border to the threat of terrorism)?
Fear seems to be a real motivator for some politicians and media pundits. Do you think these type of fear tactics are really successful with Americans in general?
We need to be careful with the term "nationalism." This can be ethnic, religious or statist. In the U.S., nationalism, without an ethnic basis, becomes the veneration of the state and its military forces.
American nationalism is based around the "end of history" thesis, which holds that all previous ideological problems have been solved by the United States' liberal, democratic capitalism. These need to be imposed on the rest of the world for their own good.
This kind of crusading mentality demands and...
The expert examines United States Nationalism and the politics of fear. The real motivators for some politicians and media pundits are determined.
How was Nationalism reflected in 19th century music?I think we missed something on this one.
This is fun - the mystery topic!
Crystal Isles will do it to you every time!
Maybe this is going to be one of those new fill in your own topic and reply threads...That way no one can come in and say "I thought this topic was about ________. Your off topic" I wonder what Helen is trying to start here?? LoL!
Dave, how could you say something like that "Wonder what Helen" - I guess with experience you will learn not to try to get into a woman's head and what she is thinking - that is dangerous territory for the rookie.
Judy, is Helen saying you did an oops?
I think Helen is saying I AM an oops! I had an oops yesterday when I let Shirley win two games of MT. Today I'm back on track and beat everybody here at my brother's house.
Be easy on Helen now.
If you think I'm going to tell you guys anything you'd better think again. I'll never tell.
That a way Helen - you hang in there. That oops is yours and don't let anybody have it.
Helen, I won't tell either, unless.....you beat me too bad at MT.
I think this is becoming one of my favorite threads... Oh the fun we can have with this!
Ok, I won 2 little games of MT. And that is out of how many???
I might as well be the "Queen" of something, Dave!
Shirley, I think we'd better concentrate on being a little kinder to Gene! Poor Gene! I don't think he's ever been anything but the highest scorer.
But I thought Vickie won the prize for high scorer at the rally?!!! Was Gene's score higher than that?
Well, Gene's had a streak of bad luck in the games we've played here in Arizona. He's practicing for the next rally! Matter of fact, Gene had some bad games at the rally, too, but Vicki did take the booby prize.
You are a great friend in my eyes.... I think that puts you in the Queen category.
Careful Dave... she might get a big head!!! I agree she is a great friend.
 Maybe we need to close this topic! Thank you!
Hey now... let's show a little respect for the Mexican Train Tournament's highest scorer... I worked really, really hard for those 1237 points (or something like that)!
Vicki, you'd better practice adding more points to your score. I think Gene had close to 600 points in ONE game! Are ya scared yet?
Mexican Train is a game of domino's and yes you can play with to two but half of the fun is playing with other Moc'ers.
You can find it at any store that sells games but we got ours at Camping World. I warn you that it is addictive and does take time to play. It is simple and very easy to learn. Even for Judy.
We were first introduced to this game about 15 years ago. We were so addicted we have two sets (one for home and one for Monty). All of our children have it and my Mother had it. We have played with 2,3,4,6,8. There are a lot of different rules depending on who taught you so it is always a good idea to go over the rules first but it is lots of fun. And it doesn't take a lot of real hard concentration so you can visit while playing. If you can count to 12 and know your colors, you can play it. WalMart has it (cheaper than CW) as does CW. Get it and have fun!
Next time we get together I will have you teach me MT. I did get a set of domino's for Christmas, found that to be fitting...
Linda and Walt, and Dave, come on out to Tybee Island and we'll teach you how to play MT.
No problem. We would love to teach you MT. We have had so much fun with it. Of course, last nights scores were nothing to brag about.
 We won't talk about the night before!
School is keeping me busy....Err too busy! Was up till 430am this morning writing a paper, still need to revise and finalize it =( Spending some time in the warm sunshine playin' MT sounds much better to me than working on papers... Have another one due on Tuesday... What ever happened to going to college and drinking beer all day?
I noted you did not win last night, but kept score. Could this be your way of shifting the focus off you?? Loose a couple rounds of MT so you look innocent?? lol!
Glad to hear you guys are having such a great time down there! Keep those blogs updated with pictures, I am following you...It means if you earn below that 12.5k in a financial year you won’t pay tax. Every penny you earn above that is taxed at 20%. Then at higher incomes you get into higher marginal rates.

Your employer is meant to work out how much it expects you to earn per year and take your tax accordingly from each payslip. So you should pay the same/very similar each month to avoid a big lump sum tax bill at the year end.

Either way, ask first your payroll people, make sure you have a tax code that isn’t just BR. Then call HMRC for any details payroll can’t help you with.The starters have the chance to be something very, very special.
Since Red Sox fans in general have turned the page on the 2018 World Series run, or at least started putting a big portion of their focus on the offseason and the upcoming 2019 campaign, the attention has largely been paid to the bullpen. It’s been the driving narrative of the entire winter. Obviously, there’s plenty of reason for that and we’re as guilty as anyone for focusing almost entirely on the relief corps this offseason. The weakness of the bullpen was, in my opinion, a bit overplayed down the stretch of the regular season last year, but that’s not the same as saying it was fine. There were clear weaknesses, and that was before losing Craig Kimbrel (probably) and Joe Kelly (definitely). I like Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier just fine (more than just fine in Barnes’ case) and there is reasonable hope for solid performances from the next tiers of relievers. Still, it really doesn’t look like a playoff team’s bullpen in this era. The handwringing about the group, generally speaking, has been mostly warranted.
With that being said, it’s also sort of weirdly overshadowed the fact that this team is poised to be elite once again even with this group of relievers. Anything can happen in baseball, of course, but at this point on the calendar all signs are pointing to the Red Sox being right there all season long as one of the league’s true World Series contenders. Obviously, the lineup should be a big part of it yet again. Mookie Betts will be with Mike Trout as a preseason MVP favorite, J.D. Martinez is still one of the best hitters in the game and downtrodden positions like second and third base have a very real chance of improving from last year. That aside, and despite the potential hiccups from the bullpen, the real story of this roster should really be the rotation. If things go according to plan, Boston’s starters could be one of the best groups in the league and one of the best this franchise has ever seen.
Consider all of these names on their own and think about what we can reasonably expect from them on the high end. Obviously the sky is the limit with Chris Sale. We know the ways things can go wrong, but as long as Sale is healthy and something close to his best he is going to be one of the two or three best pitchers in baseball. The narrative around his 2018 has seemingly shifted to his injury and downturn of performance upon his return, so much so that it’s easy to forget he may have been better than ever in the first half of the year. He was the no-doubt Cy Young favorite before the shoulder started acting up. There