biggish data

Beverley not Beverly - that's hill billies !

the suffix 'ley' denotes a field or clearing in sanglo saxon

So Beverley was 'Beaver field'

Otley - Otter field

Batley - the birthplace of Robert Palmer (addicted to love) --- Batfield

My last house was at Apperley - apple field

'Don' is old celtic British for 'hill' - the language that exists more than 2000 years ago before the Romans arrived

So Americans who talk about tennis at 'Wimbleton' (90%), only get it wrong because they dont know the origins of the language...

Near where I lived I could see 3 hills not far off
Rawdon
Baildon
Yeadon

The suffix 'by' is viking for 'town' - this word is current in modern danish as are most yorkshire words like 'lug' for 'ear' and 'laking' (playing) - which most people think are just slang

Within 10 miles of where I lived was the town of Huby (Hugh's town) and this was in the ancient Danish lands - the Danelaw
From there to the east coast there are literally hundreds of town names ending in 'by'
- whitby, selby, Derby etc
But where I lived a few miles away and to the west and south there was a line on the map and zero town names ending in 'by' as this was saxon land

Here endeth the language history lesson - just an aside

My ancestors came from Hereford in the Midlands (mainly welsh/saxon), and the northern yorkshire dales (Danish), Norman French (barratt), and a guy called Michael Casson a fugitive sheep thief from Dublin who's nephew started the first topless bar in the UK... and they call the USA a melting pot !

what this has to do with fish and chips escapes me

Edited by saywhat, 08 September 2008 - 11:48 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 11:46:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 8 2008, 03:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 8 2008, 10:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

another thing is that briitish fish and chips are not the same all over britain.

In lancashire they hardly exist and they are just soggy and sold from chinese restaurants using the same oil as the spring rolls

on the east coast in the north they have skin on

In the south they are mostly cod

The best in the world are Greengates in Bradford, Yorkshire - which are haddock done in beef dripping with plain batter

I will be there in 1 week for a week and I intend to have them EVERY day !

Fish shop vinegar is unmalted, supermarket vinegar is malted

Some supermarkets advertise 'unmalted vinegar fish shop style' eg morrisons

American fish and chips are the worst in the world being frozen breaded triangles

I went to a 'british fish and chip shop' here in washington state and almost threw up - it was disgusting

They had a British Union flag flying outside and it was all Britishified - but same old same old junk

I have to say for the most part I've never encountered the "triangles" outside of school lunches. The pubs generally do a good job of getting more traditional type fish...then again most pubs are owned by expats!

Up where Nicky is from (north Northumberland) it is quite good, as he comes from a coastal town and the fish is ultra-fresh. Midwest living doesn't lend to having terribly fresh fish unless you want to pay lots of money at a nicer restaurant. But the Fish Keg was relatively fresh and inexpensive for the quality.

i lived in Milwaukee for a year on and off and never saw anything better than edible

No way can you get fresh haddock or even cod in the mid west - its a 4 hour flight due east of here

But the secret is in the dripping and they just don't do it

Scarborough/whitby/nothumberland as it is stright out of the north sea or has been kept on ice (not frozen) from icelandic waters and is excellent as you say - but they do leave the skin on at the seaside towns and leave the bones in too very often

I once worked in Leeds and had fish and chips every lunch for 18 months !

I like em

i grew up 800 yards from harry ramsden's the biggest f &c shop in the world when it was maginificent

I paid 1 shilling and 10pence when every other shop was one and tuppence

I wouldn't eat em for free now they are a multinational and its awful - the price does not matter - total junk

My American wife is a huge fan of Yorkshire fish and chips

Edited by saywhat, 08 September 2008 - 10:45 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 10:45:00

Edited by saywhat, 08 September 2008 - 10:26 AM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-08 10:24:00

Went to the 'British Fish and Chip shop' in Wenatchee, Washington State - it flies the Union flag

What did I get ? The usual frozen breaded triangles with french fries that's what

I asked them if they ever used dripping

What ?

Told em it was beef fat - blank look

No bread and butter, no mushy peas, no cup of tea

Ask em what kind of fish it was - blank look

Nearest curry is 150 miles away in Seattle I am told - 300 mile round trip for a ruby ?

Anyway the 6 jars of Branston arrived from Amazon - teeny weeny size 6 dollars each plus shipping - a bargain and a lifeline

When I lived in Florida I drove 70 miles for a piece of Cheshire cheese - haven't seen any here in the Pacific North West

Anyone found any real fish and chips on this continent ?

ps - if Larry King calls it Wimbleton again I will scream ! He was interviewing Venus and she said Wimbledon and the caption said Wimbledon but 99% of Americans call in Wimbleton and cannot change...

'Don' is original British for 'hill' as in Doncaster/ Yeadon /Baildon /Rawdon /Wimbledon/Swindon/Basildon

I digress

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-07-17 12:08:00

QUOTE (bakofoil @ Sep 10 2008, 10:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 10:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My husband once made a website where the only thing on it was John Major's recipe for French onion soup. Why he did this, I will never know......

Lol! It is hard to leave a comment on this without insulting your husband.

That's what husbands are for - in both countries

always have been

hence:

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Common_scold

I note that the americans repealed it before the Brits - so one up for the USA in the civilisation process.

or was it ? ....

Edited by saywhat, 10 September 2008 - 05:24 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 17:23:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 10:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My husband once made a website where the only thing on it was John Major's recipe for French onion soup. Why he did this, I will never know......

Trapeze artists son who is prime minister, bonks respectable Jewish lady cabinet minister in between games of cricket !

Never mind 'only in america' - I say 'only in England !'

beat that Obama !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 17:13:00

QUOTE (bakofoil @ Sep 10 2008, 10:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 10:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with your point - and I'm being a little contrary because I agree that the Obama claim of "only in this country is my story possible" is annoying when the UK had a prime minister who ran away from the circus to become an accountant!

Running away from the circus to become an accountant is so romantic!

Running away from accountancy to the deserts of Washington State isnt as romantic - but at least I can go looking for rattlesnakes instead of them looking for me

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 17:07:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 09:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 10 2008, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nope, it's preposterous to claim that the US is at ease with the idea of a black head of government and the UK isnt

And that's not what I was suggesting ....only that we have come much closer to achieving it. I guess I'm tired of my UK friends wondering if "america is ready for a black president" and if we don't elect him we are "racist" when in fact the UK is quite far from doing that themselves. And as someone who in a former life as a social research analyst interviewed Met police in work that would underpin the McPherson Report - lets just say I always become very contrary when UK people insist they are "better" when it comes to race relations than we are in the US. and I'm the first to say in the US we have a long way to go.

That's fair and balanced - truth is that the USA is no more homegenous than anywhere else and there are racists everywhere - but in the US everything is more extreme (extreme good as well as extreme bad - it goes with the weather), so whereas in the UK some skinhead would call names or throw a beer can, in Mississippi, a black person is more likely to 'disappear' if they cross the 'good ole boys'

Racism seems to go very deep. I can understand it because it's only 20 years prior to my grandad being born that the slaves were set free - turned loose. Since then, they have gone feral in many inner cities and I don't blame them - if I were in their position I would go pretty feral myself.

The whites who caused it all and didn't sweep up their own mess by educating and including black people, then saw all the crime etc and the gulf widened to where the two communities are still very uneasy with each other.

So in those terms it's great that Obama has come as far as he has, amazing really, but there is a lot of iceberg under the water line that hasn't melted

It's a lot easier for minorities to be absorbed when there are just a few and not a huge wave and thats where the UK has gone wrong. Me and my dad worked unloading coal trucks by hand with a punchie old black ex -pro boxer - we were all deep black with the coal dust and I didn't even think about the guy's colour until years later ! I never saw the slightest discrimination against him in our small town, and he lived with a white woman too and walked to the pub where everyone made him popular and asked about his former career and laughed and joked with him all night - he was 'walter the boxer ', not 'the black guy'

From that I have always thought that slow careful integration is possible but push it too fast and there are problems - bit like introducing two tigers to each other - do it slowly or they will rip each others heads off rather than mating

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 17:01:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 10 2008, 08:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ok I can understand where you are coming from there. It is awfully hard to know you are supposedly the "best" when you have never been anywhere else. Not to mention that different groups of people have different definitions of what greatness entails.

One thing that always has annoyed me is the rampant dislike of France from those who have never been there. My experiences in France have been almost positive...except for a Algerian on a Montemartre street who called me an "American Pr*ck" as I went to do my laundry. I actually found it more hilarious than anything.

Yes it's because he has never lived in America and knows nothing of americans

I criticize the Uk and the US and France and everywhere really as I like to seek out the 'best' way to do things

But it doesnt mean I am anti these countries overall because I compliment them too

An american family literally saved me and took me in when i was in trouble in saudi arabia (a brit refused to help), and I am married to an american and I chose to live in america - so I am not a good candidate to be anti-american really

But I would like it to be easier for me to say I dont like this or that without the auto response being 'well get back to your own country bud - we are the best that ever existed' - and I suspect that the overly nationalistic rabble rousing of the political parties is to blame and that left to their own devices, the american people would just be people.

Perhaps its me deploring universal aspects of human nature, rather than specific americans responses

The aclimatisation goes on - but I wish the flag waving and roar of 'USA' would stop, and the place looked more like Germany now than Germany then

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 16:17:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 07:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't disagree with where you're coming from.......I don't disagree with the terrible stain with regards to America's past on issues of race, but when I was referring to "minorities" I was specifically talking about people of color, not Jews or women. There is a pretty visible non-white population in the UK (whether black or Asian) - I don't see them as well represented in positions of power as they are here.

You are right there - but at the moment they don't feel the urgency because the labour party is totally at one with them over easy immigration and 'working with' their communities and setting up sharia divorce courts etc . People like Jack Straw do the job of representing their interests very well so white men representatives are ok for now...

I agree that there are very few 'coloured' people in the UK parliament , but their views and interests are very well represented because the MP's need their votes and it won't be long before they have a lot more of their very own representatives. While the whites are still the majority in the country, the 'coloured' community will get more of their own way with the whites making changes on their behalf so as not to alarm white voters

As soon as they are the majority, they will have no need of white surrogates

That is how democracy works, the leading of the majority by the minority - when the UK banned hanging, 70% of the population were against it but not vociferously - so the leaders managed to do it

The passive minority will allow their inner wishes to be over-ridden for a quiet life

Anyway, Obama ain't home and dry yet - perhaps racism in the US has not been defeated

and it isn't unknown for black people to be shot as soon as they become leaders -

'only in America are political leaders shot with such frequency' - how would that do for a sound bite ?

Nope, it's preposterous to claim that the US is at ease with the idea of a black head of government and the UK isnt

We have even had a Jewish PM - how long before the US will go with that eh ?

The UK has had the leader of a majority party who was.....wait for it ...an ATHEIST !!!!

and then an unmarried man ? ted heath ? heavens he might be GAY !!!!!

imagine a gay president ? - imagine him /her not being shot ?

Nope, the UK has it when it comes to tolerance

When the US has had a president for 4 years without getting shot, who is black/gay and an atheist - then I might give the US points for tolerance, until then, Blighty in the rain wins hands down any time on this point

Trouble with americans is they wont even agree to be equal with other nations - they think that suggestion is 'putting america down'

They simply have to be 'better' and anyone who does not acknowledge their superiority is anti-american and has to be confronted and defeated - it's in the blood now

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 15:18:00

QUOTE (truffles @ Sep 10 2008, 06:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The fact of the matter is Maggie herself was at that time part of a minority group - women in politics.

I am not young, but I will live to see universal health care and a woman president and no more executions or torture in the US

In Palin's area, a woman complaining of rape is tested using a rape kit and then then the police send her a bill !!!!
Individual responsibilty and no subsidy
She is not in favour of rape victoms getting the morning after pill even !

I don't worry about the US because although it's 50 years behind the rest of the world in many things, the direction IS forward - and even if it doesn't catch up, it is getting better and better

Soon, the idea that dinosaurs were not ridden by indians in wyoming or barbecued outside tepees in montana 4000 years ago , will spread right across the US and people will see that praying for pipelines or hospitals bundling paralysed illegal imigrants into private planes and flying them out of the country without reference to government will all stop

Stuff the money, where is the civilisation ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 13:49:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Sep 10 2008, 05:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 10 2008, 11:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The UK abolished slavery before the US. The UK had women voting before the US. The UK abolished capital punishment before the US which has not yet. The UK had a woman head of government and the US still hasn't.
Margaret Thatcher's successor was the son of a trapeze artist !

Minor correction - the supreme court suspended the death penalty with the Furman decision in 1972 (there had been no executions since 1967). Executions resumed as a matter of state law (several states don't have the death penalty) with the Gary Gilmore execution after 2 SCOTUS decisions in 1976.

With regards to Obama's story "only being possible in the United States." Can you point to a political figure of a minority in Europe or elsewhere as powerful as Obama, Condi Rice, Clarence Thomas or Colin Powell? Because I'm racking my brain on that one.

Jews are a minority group, and Margaret Thatcher's circle of ministers and Tony Blair's too , had a huge proportion of Jews

The UK does not have the percentage of black people that the US has because we were the suppliers (to our shame) of black people , rather than the buyers. Otherwise it wouldn't be a problem. The UK has never lynched a black man - what about america ? Eh ? Eh ? curl up with shame !

Only in the US have dozens of black men been lynched - Obama should have said that if his speech was to be balanced

Promoting a few tokens does not make up for what the black people in the US have gone through

The last town I lived in in England had majority pakistani population - very soon now there will be many 'minority' leaders but they will be white middle aged guys

That town's MP was Jack Straw and he took Condie Rice to a real football game 400 yards from where I lived

If Jack Straw as MP for Blackburn isn't a 'minority' leader then I dont know who is

I repeat - nobody is 'putting the US down' - simply calling for the US to stop presenting itself as superior

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 13:14:00

QUOTE (Jeraly @ Sep 10 2008, 04:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"minotities" - Mammaries of female minotaurs

Obama was a 'minotities community organiser' - is that the same as a small bra ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 11:46:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 10 2008, 04:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm going to defend the Americans again here on the passport issue. It is possible to travel cheaply, but most people are more comfortable taking the expensive tours...especially going to a place you've never been before. You grew up near to other foreign cultures...therefore they weren't so "foreign." Figuring out train schedules in France (aside from language) isn't all that different from figuring out train schedules in Britain.

I just think some slack needs to be cut here to Americans. Especially when you grow up and live in the midwest or south where it's a journey in and of itself to get to a city that is large enough to offer international flights. People have families to take care of as well, and sometimes you have to make choices between a European tour or paying for your kid's healthcare or college...such as the case of my parents this year when they had planned on going to Europe but instead had other bills come up. If it were as easy as to hop a Ryan Air flight and take a 3 hour flight to Spain with your 6 weeks holiday I'm sure more Americans would. But it just isn't that easy.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all your points which are 100% valid.

However, americans who should know better, and have plenty of money, are also very inward looking in general. I have met americans out there in far flung places who were more cosmopolitan than me, and more at ease than me in foreign cultures and spoke the language beautifully - so it isn't all americans. The american culture does not preclude wordliness for individuals, it just discourages it for the masses

I guess I am despairing about americans living on $700 per month, listening to mitt romney saying they are better off than any other people in the world, and Barrack saying his story would be impossible in any other country - its not true and is a deception on americans who dont know whether its true or not because they dont have any experiences to compare it with. Romney also said the 'US is the finest country that ever existed in the history of the world' - how does that play with a citizen of another country watching CNN ? Why can't we agree that no country should go around strutting that stuff ?

The UK abolished slavery before the US. The UK had women voting before the US. The UK abolished capital punishment before the US which has not yet. The UK had a woman head of government and the US still hasn't.
Margaret Thatcher's successor was the son of a trapeze artist !

So why all this superiority drum beating all the time from the US ? It is that which is annoying the world.
The rest of the world has plenty of bad things (including the UK) so why can't the US be just one of the family instead of leaning over the fence and saying 'my wife is prettier than yours'

That sort of attitude is bound to annoy people.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 11:36:00

QUOTE (Damian P @ Sep 10 2008, 06:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 9 2008, 05:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jeez - trailer dwellers crawl out of the wodwork everywhere with their short, jumbled, badly spelled grunts

Sorry Alan, I'm not usually one to highlight people's misspelling, but given the nature of this particular rant, I'm afraid I simply couldn't resist!

There is a difference between a typo and a spelling mistake

When someone says 'u' instead of 'you', its not a typo. Oh I know its lazy text language, but the language has taken 1,500 years to put together and I don't like to see it destroyed by neanderthals with extreme nationalist mind sets no better than one troup of chimpanzees confronting another

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 10:56:00

QUOTE (Widge @ Sep 10 2008, 05:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When I first heard the statistic about the number of Americans not possessing a passport I too was shocked but then thought about it and it kind of made sense. When you consider they can travel the 50 states, Canada, Mexico and a few other places I can't recall without any need for a passport why would the majority of the country even need one.
Then take into account the cost of travel to anywhere foreign from America requiring a passport, the average holiday entitlement and it then could surprise you the number who actually DO have a passport.

This is exactly what I mean - Americans dont realise that it's necessary to travel in order to experience other cultures !

They think that a drive from Minnesota to Milwaukee makes em citizens of the world !

I have been all over america and guess what - it's the SAME country. Apart from regional differences, it's not the big wide world - and taking 7 days to drive from seattle to florida is less eye opening that travelling 90 minutes from dover to calais !

Many americans, especially working class americans, only visit other countries when they are going there to kill people

Americans think it's expensive to travel because they are totally lost in the world and don't know how to travel cheaply.

They all go to london and pay 500 dollars a night for a hotel and 50 dollars for a meal, when they could be in a more beautiful region, in an economical band b and eating beautiful fish and chips for 5 dollars (with a cup of tea and a slice of bread and butter)

They dont know !

Sarah Palin, very possibly the next president, only just got a passport a short while ago ! She went to Kuwait via Germany and back pretty quickly

How can someone be president of the US if they have never been to the UK even ?????

This is blind ignorance of the highest order. How can the US be a power for good when ignorance is excused and even celebrated ?

An american girl came up to me in york and said she was going to norway the next day - then she asked me if norway was in the north of england like york.

From that moment on I realised the mountain of ignorance that I was up against

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-10 10:47:00

QUOTE (thebigyard @ Sep 9 2008, 10:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

one quick thing! before u go and say random stuff about AMERICA! y dont u critisize the own stereotype in the UK! where theres the WHITE and the minotities!!

What's are 'minotities' ? - is it those things the Americans can't look at without turning into a pillar of salt.

Janet Jackson etc ?

Eh pilgrim ?

Did you graduate ? If dynamite was brains, you wouldn't have enough to blow your hat off.

If your reading capabilities were up to it, you would have read all the negatives I posted about the UK. My main point was that the Brits can take criticism, and even join in with it, because we don't have a well deserved inferiority complex such as semi - literates like you. Now go book into night school and get an education and some computer skills too

Jeez - trailer dwellers crawl out of the wodwork everywhere with their short, jumbled, badly spelled grunts

Go wave a flag nitwit

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-09 17:37:00

QUOTE (lancer1655 @ Sep 4 2008, 10:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is it your birthday Bilbo Baggins?

had to google that - only women and kids would know it - 100% of hetro men don't know that reference

pretty daft name that - if it were me I would change it to Bongo Biggins

I used to thing barack obama was a silly name but i am used to it now - just like 'odinga oginga' the former cabinet minister of uganda

Did you know john mccain's middle name is 'sidney' ?????

I bet the vietnamese didnt know that or they could have broken him sooner by going

sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney, sidney through his cell door

5 minutes of that and he would be on the first plane out leaving his pals behind

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-04 18:22:00

QUOTE (lancer1655 @ Sep 4 2008, 09:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 2 2008, 11:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (illumine @ Sep 3 2008, 03:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

backwater redneck hell?

Talk about stereotypes....

stereotypes are very important and valid in 95% of cases or they wouldn't be stereotypes.

LOL saywhat this is definitely for you.....

http://stuffwhitepeo...06/25/winner-5/

Specifically - "White people love sounding smarter than their peers and will jump at any chance to use a statistic if it's applicable to the conversation in any way. The more absurd the statistic, the more clever and original you will seem. Stats can also hide negative feelings. If you meet a white person who wishes went to aschool that they refer to as the Harvard of the (Region where the university they attended is), they may say something like "Good thing I didn't go to an Ivy since 35% of their graduates reported being unhappy with their lives. It is considered rude to laugh and you should instead smile or throw in another appropriate statistic if handy."

I was born white but it never rains here so I am black now.. like michael jackson in reverse

also, 97.9% of people who rubbish the use of statistics have no empirical evidence to support their position

100% of people who are shot in the center of the back of the head with a 12 bore shotgun at a range of 1 inch, loaded with a single ball, (no hitler jokes please), are killed.

Statistically speaking, it's 95% more likely to have one's statements more closely examined if percentages are used. Depite this I am 100% convinced it is a valid thing to do and most (more than 50%) of formerly white people would agree with me

100% of people who graduated from high school (including ray charles) are aware of what colour they are, and 99.37 % of people do not believe george' bush's wife likes doing it with him

Stereotypes rule except where they don't, and as long as all the bets are the same size, you will end up winning if you use stereotypes

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-04 17:46:00

QUOTE (SteveLaura @ Sep 3 2008, 08:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

British news has had it's fair share of eye-candy (Katie Derham & Sue Turton) but I agree - you do get a sense that they have an inkling of where some of the countries they report on actually are. But then, look at our beloved leader. I enjoy watching his pre-written speeches, much more so than his off-the-cuff remarks. Whenever he uses a big word, I hope that a reporter will ask him afterwards, "You mentioned 'annexation' - could you explain what that means exactly?"

Yes and this sarah Palin the new vp to be has just got her first passport and has been to the outside world once so she knows all about it now...

just like my cat looked out into the garden once when i left the door open so it knows all about bees
The average bus station lavatory cleaner in england has more international travel experience than the potential president of the United States of America !

Anyone in england who gets to 44 without a passport is a class 1 dork and no mistake and probably has no driver's license and still lives with his mum

Still, she doesnt need to target the nukes, just press that big red button - even George could do that after trying to pull it a few times

jeez I am glad I am old and going to die soon anyway - your life in their hands or what !

Edited by saywhat, 03 September 2008 - 04:08 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-03 16:08:00

QUOTE (SteveLaura @ Sep 3 2008, 08:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 3 2008, 03:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... and as for bare nipples !

good heavens reginald, to what are things coming ?

I used to get annoyed at the pixellation of uncovered mammaries on the TV. Now I just squint.

like that bird with the brown eyes and gums on CNN
She thinks its cute to do this incredible cross-eyed squint every now and then

never got that from BBC news readers - bit of gravitas you know - not purient peeping tom stuff from over made up air heads

Quote don henley:

the bubble headed bleach blonde, comes on at 5
she can tell you bout the plane crash
with a gleam in her eye
it's interesting when people die
we love dirty laundry

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-03 15:50:00

QUOTE (SteveLaura @ Sep 3 2008, 08:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Krikit @ Sep 3 2008, 06:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 2 2008, 11:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When someone runs towards you screaming his head off waving a sword, its best to stereotype him as a danger rather than wanting to investigate whether he is film actor and there is a camera behind you.
Our brain works on images and set templates - in other words stereotypes - they are very useful.

I hate when this happens. Especially on a Friday. It ruins my whole weekend.

I agree. Just like when I invited that Barbara Bush home. I used up three bottles of Resolve.

resolve eh - I bet the alkis in the park mix it with wrung out skunk road kill essence - they know how to party

I havent tried that - might mix it with tonic water and a lime as i can only get gin at the state run liquor store for sober non-indians

If I was them I would scalp the officious nitwits - you can get a machine gun but not a gin and tonic and as for bare nipples !

good heavens reginald, to what are things coming ?

queen mother would not have done well here with no g and t

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-03 15:39:00

QUOTE (illumine @ Sep 3 2008, 03:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

backwater redneck hell?

Talk about stereotypes....

I didnt say it but i sure implied it....

nope it isnt that bad - they don't know they are rednecks and they think they are helping the community by wanting to lynch mexicans

stereotypes are very important and valid in 95% of cases or they wouldn't be stereotypes.

When I go to the hospital and the doctor says I am going to stick this needle in you, I stereotype the doc as a responsible rational person even though he might be a total psycho for all i know.
We couldnt get through the day without stereotyping

When someone runs towards you screaming his head off waving a sword, its best to stereotype him as a danger rather than wanting to investigate whether he is film actor and there is a camera behind you.
Our brain works on images and set templates - in other words stereotypes - they are very useful.

The fact that we are regularly surprised when someone doesnt fit the stereotype does not invalidate stereotypes which fit very well most of the time

If you invite a drunk home out of the public park, he is more likely to pee on your carpet than barbara bush (is).

I am sure that most rednecks fit their stereotypes

Edited by saywhat, 02 September 2008 - 10:57 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 22:56:00

QUOTE (NickyMcMillan @ Sep 3 2008, 03:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Reminds me of an interesting case back where I'm from in a town called White Clay in regards to Natives and alcohol.

population 14 ! those guys know how to party !

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 22:44:00

QUOTE (Big Agnes! @ Sep 3 2008, 03:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 2 2008, 06:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Big Agnes! @ Sep 3 2008, 01:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Raw aggression of the frontier? Goodness gracious.

There is a big diff - in England you can buy a gin in the supermarkets - its stacked next to the chocolate !

Here in Arizona too--although it's stacked next to the beef jerky.

Let me say something positive about washington state to avoid curmudgeonhood - the electricity from the big dams is 38 dollars for a month in a 100% electric using house and the a/c on 24 /7 in 107 degrees of heat !

And the a/c so low the cats wont stay in the house

In England I was paying $300 per month for heating gas in winter + electricity on top ! (10 years ago)

Yes the US is good in many ways - if they would just pack in with the military conquest thing and the flag waving and 'we are superior to everyone' then it would be quite liveable

It's all the brits fault as we encouraged them to be non isolationist when they refused to fight foreign wars - - and now look at em sticking their nose into korea and vietnam and kosovo and georgia and iraq and everywhere else they can bomb without getting one back...

911 was from a 'friend' - saudi arabia - proving the futility of all the other adventures - bombed by someone they didnt bomb first ! who would have thought it ?

anyway with scary cindy mccain chosing the targets, things might be different. I am an alien and she is a citizen so how come i look like a citizen and she looks like an alien ?

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 22:37:00

QUOTE (Big Agnes! @ Sep 3 2008, 01:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Raw aggression of the frontier? Goodness gracious.

Oh yes ! here in Washington state I can't buy a gin on public holidays as 'hard liquor' is regulated and sold through 'state liquor stores' and they close on public holidays

Cant have the hinjuns buying firewater you know....

There is a big diff - in England you can buy a gin in the supermarkets - its stacked next to the chocolate !

and they ID me too - even though my grandson is taking driving lessons and my grandaughter is due to give birth making me a great grandpaw !

Must be that moist air in england that has prevented me getting wrinkles

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 20:51:00

QUOTE (Big Agnes! @ Sep 3 2008, 12:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmm...I always say please when ordering something. It never occurred to me that it would seem like a$$-kissing or unusual. I'm the USC, and I'd consider "Give me a beer" pretty rude. When ordering in a restaurant, "I'll have..." (without the "please") would be acceptable if a bit formal, but I'd never heard of anyone in the service industry questioning someone saying "please." I've worked in various service jobs and can't get my head around the idea that someone would question your motives if you're polite.

My husband is English and I've spent a lot of time over there. I don't think there's a huge difference between the U.S. and England in terms of common politeness. My husband actually thinks that Americans are more polite (he's been here for 3 1/2 years). I was surprised to hear that!

Saywhat, it sounds like you're living in some kind of backwater redneck hell. I'm the first to admit that the U.S. is a crazy place in many ways, but common courtesy is always appreciated.

You are right that 'excuse me' etc is heard a lot more in the US than the UK and lots of other pleasantries too ..but..

I used to work for an Atlanta based company so I experienced dozens of U.S. employees coming over to the UK over decades and I can't remember any of them saying 'please' when ordering a beer at the bar. They were more than polite at every other time with fellow employees etc but 'serving staff' and airline staff were treated with much less consideration. It's not that they are impolite, it's just that the conventions are different in different circumstances.

My american boss had his baggage temporarily lost by the airline - they called him at the hotel at 9.30pm when i was with him. The customer services guy said they had located it and would fly it to Leeds from London in 30 minutes time and pay for a taxi to bring it to his hotel. He said 'If you think I am going to say thank you - you are out of your effing mind!' and slammed the phone down

Do you remember the waldorf salad episode of fawlty towers - it's not far off being an accurate stereotype sometimes - john cleese was married to an american at the time (Connie Booth) so he would have a feel for the cultural differences.
The customer says 'fawlty i am going to bust your butt' and fawlty shouts to the chef that he will 'break his bottom'

Americans are ok until they are not ok and then watch out - that over politeness disappears pretty darned quick and the raw aggression of the frontier surfaces

I was in georgia a lot in the 80's and the whites were incredibly polite to the blacks - calling them 'sir' and holding doors open for them

Out of earshot they were soon N's again

It was then that I gained the impression that Americans are more polite than any nation I know - to people's faces, but what goes on underneath is less so...

I would rather have the Yorkshire 'listen on, cloth ears' said in an affectionate way, than 'It was wonderful to see you, have a good day' when it's monotoned and dictated by company procedure

But that's because of my culture that's all and americans would feel more pleased with the latter

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 19:35:00

QUOTE (Barry and Jackie @ Sep 2 2008, 10:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, of course I'm sure I will meet a person serving me who is unpolite but what I am trying to say is that from one city to the next, or from one state to the next, your experiences, my experiences and everyone elses could, and will be very much different.

Yes in this case it was the person ordering, (my wife) who seemed impolite to the Brits as she doesn't (didn't used to) say 'please'.

To an american, they would probably think it was a bit fishy for someone to say 'please'

It doesn't sound right - when the cowboy slumps at the bar all covered in dust and says 'hey bartender - gimme a shot of red eye - please ' No it doesn't sound right.

Like me going into walmart and they say 'how wonderful for you to visit us today - how are you?' - and I just say 'Hi' and inwardly recoil, it's a cultural thing

It's just custom and you get used to what is done to you as the foreigner - reading the native, and why they frown is harder

Your point about different cities is spot on - 400 yards from me right now they are firing .45 handguns and roping calves(dogies), from horseback. They wear big hats and chaps and there are rattle snakes here 100 yards away. The men and women all weigh 300lbs and have massive pick ups and big guts and go to church and their school age daughters dont get pregnant. The next city west is Seattle which is all Japanese/Chinese etc studying hard at university and having gay relationships if they are so inclined - a totally different world - a totally different culture, but they faint with pride and cry with emotion at the sight of the FLAG

I could be a chameleon and try to do as the locals here, but I prefer to bring a piece of my culture along and who knows, some of em might borrow a small piece from me.

Now that's what I call evangelism old fruit !

Edited by saywhat, 02 September 2008 - 06:17 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 18:16:00

QUOTE (Damian P @ Sep 2 2008, 05:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 2 2008, 11:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It certainly doesn't but some posters are really scathing about Britain - a country which nurtured them and paid for their birth - free !

Tbf, the only poster on this thread whose contribution to it in terms of denigrating Britain could conceivably be described as "scathing", is ALC - an American!

Somehow it isn't as bad when it comes from an american, they are entitled to prefer their own culure in every way, but when i hear a brit seeing NOTHING about the UK that they like, then I think that they missed a lot of good things in british culture while they were there.
I had to point out to my american wife to say 'please' when she ordered a drink at the bar in england and she didnt see the necessity and said 'why should i kiss their ### - i am doing THEM a favour'

She preferred to say 'gimme a beer'

Eventually she got it and was rewarded with a smile every time. It's that kind of custom that I want to retain although I am not sure how american bar staff regard me for doing it - they probably think i am gay and trying to get off with em- or just effeminate

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 12:27:00

QUOTE (Damian P @ Sep 2 2008, 07:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 1 2008, 12:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They will eat burgers and sit in the sun and look down on their former country and work on leaving it's culture behind and morphing into an American

That's one way of putting it. Of course, one could always look at it from the alternative viewpoint of the new immigrant making an effort to embrace the culture of his/her adopted home. And I don't think that means you have to you have to "look down" on your homeland as a whole, does it?

It certainly doesn't but some posters are really scathing about Britain - a country which nurtured them and paid for their birth - free !

I suppose such folk lived in inner cities and never did absorb any of the positive virtues of British culture - living only in underclass society - and therefore they see only positive things about their emigration. If that is the case then good luck to them and they have improved their lives and why not morph into an american - it is the best thing for them and america

My american wife worked in england last year and couldn't hear here work mates because they 'spoke so quietly'
When I turn on american TV, everyone is shouting and bawling and it hurts my ears and i turn the telly down but it's still irritating. Little things like that mark out cultural differences but I bet a lot of emigrants never even notice such things because they are insensitive or lived in families like that in england. I am not a money snob because I have been hungry - but I am a behavior snob because good behavior costs nothing. I am not talking about table manners - I am talking about swearing, name calling, loudness, violence, ignorance etc. The UK has a full quota of all that as well as the US but the US version is carried on at full volume and with no self consciousness and I don't want to absorb that aspect of american culture

I value quiet, reasoned discussion and everyone screaming at each other and referring to inserting things into human bottoms in every sentence is a difference I will never be reconciled to. I have been desensitised to 'you are a very special person' and flags and dog howls of approval etc, but the sheer volume and vulgarity and violence of US TV still has it's original impact even after several years of exposure.

I do things the american way and refer to 'checks' and trunks and hoods and drive according to american customs and even eat with a fork, and gulp my food down, tip big and leave the restaurant quickly - so I have absorbed many american ways - and i even do a good wisconsin accent if the waitress can't understand me...

But there are certain american ways which i reject , and I know I will never absorb them. I am pleased that I retain British ways in these matters, in the same way that a pakistani moslem girl in england might be proud that she keeps the ways of her people and doesn't sleep around like the girls on the local council estate

Nobody would think the worse of such a girl for not integrating into the local customs, so I hope I can stay english in some ways . How can this girl avoid being accused of acting 'superior', and therefore being called a snob? Of course she does secretly. I want to keep some of my cultural ways too.

But I am STILL here so I am not sat here calling every american custom bad. I am not extoling the virtues of england as though there were no serious downside. I am picking the good stuff from both societies but deriding the bad stuff in both societies. Doing that is ok in england but americans are super sensitive to any criticism and just say 'go home'.

That is a major cultural difference and I haven't figured out whether it is brainwashing or a deep insecurity

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-02 11:22:00

QUOTE (ginger1981 @ Sep 1 2008, 10:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 1 2008, 12:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Someone who has more liberal views and does not glorify the military or savour successful wars will have a harder time accepting all the flag waving and triumphalism. US prisons are horrifying and turn people into animals being watched by armed guards in towers. I find much of organised official american culture barbaric - firing squad executions/castration of sex offenders/trial by tv etc etc . There is barbarity in the population in england too but it isn't state sponsored.

Just as a note on the firing squad: it is only used in two states, and at that it is a method that the offender can choose as an alternative to lethal injection. The last person to be executed by firing squad in the US was in Utah in 1996. It's quite a rare event when it happens.

I personally think part of the "war glory" comes from WWII veterans (who are often referred to as the "greatest generation"). Over here it was seen as the ultimate good vs. ultimate evil war....which IMHO isn't too terribly off even when you take some of the more embarrassing actions the US government took during that time period. Basically, I think a lot of people...in regards to war...have since had a hard time reconciling the US taking a military action that is wrong. Not everyone, but there are a lot of people out there with that attitude. This is also compounded by the fact that Vietnam vets were treated quite atrociously by the government and society at large in the years following that conflict.

Trial by TV...man I hate Nancy Grace. Hate her self-righteous helmet headed a_ss. Couldn't agree more there.

The world war 2 thing doesn't hold water when you think the US sat back for 2 years and let 40 thousand Brits get killed in the blitz and the US never did declare war on Germany - Germany declared war on the USA after pearl harbour.
Both the US and Britain did not win the war - it was Russia. Russia rolled em back from Stalingrad in 1942 and lost 20 million dead and broke into Berlin and caused Hitler's suicide. The Brits and Americans played a lesser role.

My grandfather was killed by the Germans when my dad was 18 months old and my father fought in the jungle in Burma and didn't get home until 1946 - and I know they didn't see it as principled or heroic - they were conscripted and dismayed when they were called up. They would curl their lips at this hero stuff - they suffered because they had no choice. Many Americans were in the same boat in Vietnam and didn't deserve to be put down when they got back and many didn't deserve the hero thing either. They were just guys doing their best to survive.

Yes I have nightmares about nancy grace ! I hope she is never on a jury trying me. Any young man contemplating marriage should be asked the question - what will you do if she turns into nancy grace in 30 years time ?

I think the US is becoming more moral and civilised but it's taking it's time getting there. It was late with abolishing slavery after the UK. It was late with votes for women after the UK. It was late into the war (both). It is late with universal health and gay rights etc. But it gets there eventually and I think the people are leading the politicians right now.

Luckily I am not a woman, or gay or likely to end up in prison or have to work for minimum wage or tips. I feel desperately sorry for those in America who are - America is made for people like me (as I am now) and if I was poor I would want to be in Europe. If I got a disease that would cost say $500k and my insurance company found a way to wriggle out of it, I could lawfully fly to manchester, take up residence again and get it all paid for free - 100%. An American would have to just die. Wake up America and see what other people have and stop banging the superiority drum

Perhaps immigration should be based on a 'swap' so some poor person with no health insurance/ no prospects could go live in England and get a nice council house with central heating and a new kitchen and a nice garden and 400 dollars a week without working - no that wouldnt work - they are laid in their damp rooms on starvation money with no safety net and they are brainwashed into thinking the US is the 'best country that has ever existed in the history of the world ' (Mitt Romney), and they wave their little flags while they cough their lungs up

Being in the US makes me feel really bad for the 'have nots' here but at least they don't know the rest of the world and get a glow from being proud americans - so if that provides them comfort then it's cruel to point out the emperor's lack of clothes

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-01 19:51:00

QUOTE (elmcitymaven @ Sep 1 2008, 05:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yay, Alan's back!

Very thoughtful post, by the way, as usual.

and 10% less provocative too ! I must be mellowing

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-01 12:52:00

Original Poster here - A little reflection time

Things are definitely DIFFERENT. Where you are in the UK and where you are in the US has an enormous bearing on it too.
Cheltenham and Bradford are different worlds and so are areas of Milwaukee (murder central) and rural Washington state where I am (zero murders last year)

So in that way, it is impossible to compare the UK and the US as single entities because they are not
GENERALLY, and as a valid stereotype, the dirt and litter and drunkenness that I see in Britain is not present here in the US. The sun shines but it's 107 in summer and minus a billion in winter and vertical mountains and baking desert so i cant go walkies and its all private anyway with little access. I have been here since April and seen 2 mini squirrels and some deer - the wildlife is absent - not even a rabbit. I come from the Yorkshire dales where every field and river and wood has a public footpath to enjoy. That does not exist here. State /national/county parks are organized exercise yards and not to be compared with the walk from say the lake district to Ilkley moor. The food here is cheap junk it really is.

So I think we are homing in on which is 'best'. The answer is neither. They are different - and the US can offer some things and the UK can offer other things.

A person who is into military activities and is very right wing can fit in very well I am sure and will have no problem with uniforms and flags and pride and righteous wars. They will eat burgers and sit in the sun and look down on their former country and work on leaving it's culture behind and morphing into an American

Someone who has more liberal views and does not glorify the military or savour successful wars will have a harder time accepting all the flag waving and triumphalism. US prisons are horrifying and turn people into animals being watched by armed guards in towers. I find much of organised official american culture barbaric - firing squad executions/castration of sex offenders/trial by tv etc etc . There is barbarity in the population in england too but it isn't state sponsored.

What is an American anyway ? - Barbara Bush and Mike Tyson and Michael Moore are all Americans - you can only define individuals (and then with difficulty) and not whole countries. In that regard Mrs thatcher was right and there is no such thing as society. So there is no such thing as an American or a Brit or America or Britain - it all depends on who, where etc...

I am back in the UK in 2 weeks time for a week. I will have pork pie and some fish and chips and Timmy Taylor bitter and walk by Bolton abbey in Wharfedale and love it. Then I will see the litter and the council estates and the cold and wet and wind and probably miss the check out girl telling me I am very special person and thank you for shopping here and have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing me again

On balance, I am still here and have been to the UK for 7 days in the last year - so that must say something

I don't like having to chose - I am retired with a few bob in the bank - and so I think I will try to take the best of both worlds and reject the worst of both too and hope not kill someone after accidentally running a red light and then ending up in an american prison - I would rather be dead

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-09-01 12:40:00

QUOTE (jundp @ Aug 25 2008, 09:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think there's anything nearly close to patriotism in America and Nazism from Germany ca. 1939-1945. I agree with some of what you have posted about stereotypes (except the part about Washington being backwater....!!!) but some of it just sounds like whining about the differences between the US and your own country.

There's patriotism and pride, and then there's nationalism. Not all of us who proudly recite the pledge of allegiance have some sort of Nationalistic sense. We saw what Nationalism did in Ireland and Germany...no thank you. But there is a sense of community and patriotism that unifies in one sense.

Did you mean Übermensch and Untermensch in reference to Hitler?

Yes that's the concept -- I don't even have umlauts on my keyboard so that was as close as I could get

I could never really feel how the outside world sees Britain and I am sure no American can see how America is viewed from outside. I can assure you that every European feels intimidated by all the flag waving though - whether it's meant to be 'triumph of the wills' or not, it sure looks like it and I don't know any foreigner who doesn't think so - unless they are North Korean or something

When the US says it has the right to come and get British Bankers using bounty hunters and fly them to the US with or without extradition, then that sends a message that the US is superior and can do as it wants. Extraordinary rendition and torture too sends the message that the US does not care about world opinion and being part of the international community and is again superior and above everything

I have noticed anyone wanting to discuss differences is described as a 'whiner'. I know it's common in the US because when I ask my wife if she is ready, she says I am whining. I can assure you that it is highly offensive outside the US as it reduces the person to the status of a dog and would be fighting talk in the UK

I know not many Americans need to know that as less than 40% have passports and as Homer Simpson says 'Why should I learn English - I am not planning to go to England'

Edited by saywhat, 25 August 2008 - 04:53 PM.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-08-25 16:50:00

QUOTE (palilover @ Aug 25 2008, 09:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL I never thought about dirt/soil/earth in such sentimental terms:))

but omg warder? Does she WARSH her dishes too? That accent drives me crazy. I don't speak taht way, but I had a cousin warsh himself......OMG where's th e freaking R people?! lol

She is from Racine, Wiscaaaarnsin !

As a kid she was sent to elocution classes to change it from Arkansaw to that !

Everyone thinks she is Canadian when we are traveling abroad and while W is in power she lets em think it

It's not bad actually- not as sophisticated as Barnsley south Yorkshire but better than John Edwards stuff

When walmart told me how delighted they were to see me and I was a very special person and asked me how i was etc etc etc I thought I would throw em with 'fair to middlin' and she nodded, repeated it - she understood it ! I was shocked.

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-08-25 16:23:00

QUOTE (palilover @ Aug 25 2008, 08:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are very right in what you say. Yep stereotypes do exist and you will get washed out by them if you do not have a thinking brain and/or a means to get away from them. I know this from experience as I am a born American:) But thankfully I was away to get uut and enlighten myself and more people need to be that way.
One thing I've noticed about the US though since I've been to the middle east is that in our culture, anything goes. Granted, it all depends on where you are. But if you want to find it, you will if you look hard enough here. Pick the craziest, most whackiest person and you can find it! And the best part is? Nobody gives a rats a$$ what you do because they know they've seen more crazy because this is America, lol
We need more immigrants here in order to promote free thinking ideas though....to keep things fresh I guess you could say. I don't know if I make any sense here though:)
And even more, funny that you mention that the UK emphasizes the T as opposed to the americans softening it into a D. My husband sometimes has difficulty hearing my "Americanized" English because I say things really fast such as "wader" whereas he would say "water" with a emphasis on the t itself;)

I like it when we are driving and my wife says 'warder ?' in a really nonchalant way - it sounds just like clint eastwood saying 'your life' when the baddy asks him what the card game stakes are.

The one thing I CANNOT stand is earth or soil being described as 'dirt' and I break out in a rash and my eyeballs pop out
and i make little noises in my throat like the cat does sometimes

Earth and soil - good
Dirt - bad

If I were president I would make this a felony like holocaust denial in Germany

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-08-25 16:06:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Aug 25 2008, 08:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now, now Allan - I was joking. No need to invoke the nazis just yet.

I always think it's funny when Americans say that me and my countrymen have green teeth - it's just a little joke after all and the kind they could take in good grace

I see more Americans toothless than Brits, but many of em are not white so that seems of little importance in this society

Things have not changed much since the Brits refused to surrender to the handful of American troops at Yorktown in the final battle of the war of independence - and preferred to surrender to the French regulars who were the vast majority of the 'American' army

Weird how the Americans dislike the French - they would be watching the Queen's speech at 3pm on xmas day if it wasnt for them

Actually, I have been inside American Society for much of the last 4 years and it's going European or 'World' in it's thinking at a fast rate. Gay marriage, a national health system, no more executions, state kidnapping and state castrations and torture - it's all coming fast and I won't regret the passing of the Nationalistic ultra right wing tendencies

A good hop skip and a jump and it really could be the best country in the world- then the foreigners would have to shut up and I would be the first to do so

Long live the global village

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-08-25 15:35:00

QUOTE (rkl57 @ Aug 25 2008, 07:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The dentist bills is what you get for having English teeth

I think you are making my point for me. That kind of nationalist remark is exactly what I am talking about in part.

Implying that the US consists of beautiful slim, white toothed people , while filthy foreigners have green teeth, is where the US is going down the wrong road.

I was brought up for 6 years under strict food rationing after the war when sticky molassess was our sweets

We didnt have fluoride either and neither did the USA

Perhaps if the US had chosen sides and gotten into the war earlier and tried harder instead of letting the Russians win it for them, losing 20 million dead doing it, and getting into Berlin forcing Hitler's suicide, food rationing would have been necessary here too

Captain Oates

Male

England

2008-08-25 14:40:00

McCann Parents Named as Suspects..

QUOTE (Logres @ Sep 13 2007, 06:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saywhat @ Sep 13 2007, 05:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (devilette @ Sep 13 2007, 05:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When this is all over they will be guilty or innocent

If they are guilty - those of you who said they were innocent will look stupid
If they are innocent - those of you who said they were guilty will look stupid

Only people who say that with only 10% of the facts being public knowleage, it is stupid to speculate , will be right either way.

The only person to lose their job will be the police dog that said quite clearly in a high pitch that only a british bobby can hear, that a decomposing body had been there

Ironically, I think there is only one person making themselves look stupid right now.

It would be easy for me to say 'I know but I forgive you' but I don't engage in one liner conversation of the grunt-grunt type so I won't.
I just think it's not fair to paint these people as villains because of their facial expressions and nor is it right to say they are innocent and they should not be suspects.

It just isn't fair to do either.

The 'public' really alarm me much of the time - check this out- this is why I don't like lynch mobs

http://news.bbc.co.u...ales/901723.stm

anyway I have said what I had to say so I will leave you to keep discussing it and adding to everyone's understanding of the situation ...

alan

Captain Oates

Male

England

2007-09-13 12:25:00