Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Northern Ireland is a law unto itself. Apparently it is the only corner of the UK that hasn't gone to the dogs yet ;)

Can't speak much for the rest of the island. Outside of Dublin airport I don't know it too well.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I can't remember exactly how the thread had started out, but it got to the inevitable, "I'm not at all racist, but there are too many darkies in the UK."

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Wasn't it that someone who had emigrated made the point that there were too many immigrants in the UK as one of the reasons they wouldn't go back?

I found that quite ironic :)

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Are you aware that the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision ruled there was "a substantive constitutional right to own slaves"?

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Ireland (including NI) is a absolutely beautiful country as the rest of the UK. We have spent a tremendous amount of time travelling throughout Ireland and the rest of the UK. Everywhere we have travelled the scenery and the people have been fantastic (albeit) the NA accent is confusing for them....;)

As Sally said though, there are other countries that have a great deal to offer. Certainly the UK would be one of the countries on my top five list where I could live; but Scandanavia and Croatia as well as a few others are very tempting.......

Im not slamming the UK here - so please dont take my comments in the wrong context.......

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I thought they hated the poles?;)

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

That's as fair a question as could be asked. I'm sure many people have their own views on what might be considered a right, but to me a right is an abstract concept that is protected both by law and by members of the armed forces.

I think part of the problem here, is that people are confusing the terms "legal" and "right". Lots of things are legal and are allowed... or were legal (such as owning slaves) and are no longer allowed. There are very few things which are actual rights and are enumerated as such. Owning a slave, for example, may have been legal but it was never a right - because it was never included or added to the Constitution.


It certainly seems that the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments were set aside or ignored during WW2, and that was a travesty and tragedy of law. I wasn't alive at that time, so I don't know the mood of the country when Americans were rounded up and held in detention camps. It was a sad period in US history. Hopefully, things have changed since then... but it's very easy to look back in hindsight and determine that things were wrong... it's a lot harder to live through it with the same moral justification!

Ian

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Well that's one of the great BE cliches isn't it - like "Life's what you make it" except that doesn't apply to living in the UK, "We're doing it for the kids", "Just **** off if you don't like it" and "Will an NVQ get me into Florida?"

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

and the Scots :lol:

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

BE cliches! Brilliant :D

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

There are also a considerable number of people who are indifferent and just put up with things.

Pointing out flaws in either country is not a bad thing, better to be open about them than brush them under the carpet.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Do you know why? The Supreme Court held that they were not protected under the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution fixed that, fortunately.

As I have maintained throughout in this thread, rights have always been expanded and enumerated.

Ian

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Technically, in the UK that right was removed last year. Slavery and all the means of slavery has been for years, but actual ownership of people was always over looked till last year :D

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

We really need a "Best of BE" so we can bookmark these

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

But that isn't "growing old". It is still part of your working life.

The fact that you can get stuck at anytime in your working life without insurance in the US is the problem which needs correcting. The problems that can cause can be at anytime. To say that growing old in the US is a bigger problem than the UK isn't so because once people reach 65 they are not worse off. I speak as someone who moved to the US at 58 to retire, and has found the cost of health care to be affordable and the treatment I have received when needed far exceeding anything I received in my life in the UK.

The US excludes people who don't have medical insurance, the UK includes everyone but doesn't charge enough in tax to pay for the NHS so everyone gets crap service.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Sorry, that's just not my experience, I've found the service comparable to the US.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I'm of the opinion that there's nothing wrong with guns. I just think that with ownership comes great responsibility and I don't see why people kick up a fuss about need some stricter controls in small arms ownership.

What is wrong with getting a medical note to say you are of sound mind, not suffering depression and getting a criminal background check to own a weapon? Sure it'll take more than a few days and be a inconvenience, but isn't that a small price?

It's not like buying a coffee machine, yet the whole gun debate seems to equate it to the same significance.

It is all very amusing...people here would hate the government stance in Austria if they think people are so over baring on this issue, over there, if you fail your driving test 3 times, you've got to take a medical to prove you are of sound mind because they can't believe anyone could possibly not have issues or be stupid to fail that often. I've seen the theory book, it's 3 inches thick :lol:

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Even better when they blame the immigrants and that's why they left the UK :D

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I think part of the major issue is the complete lack of consistency.

Not just health, but even gun laws.

Things can be great in one state, but polar opposite next door. It's very hard for there to be a change and equal comparison if someone were at the top end and thinking they might lose out, compared to someone on the other end of the scale who would have most to gain, etc.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

You're being obtuse. The court found that there was "a substantive constitutional right to own slaves". How much clearer a right - in US terms - is there? The final arbiter on what is and isn't a "right" is the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution. In this case they found a constitutional right to own slaves.

My substantive constitutional right to own slaves has been removed.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

There is no "magic" point where "growing old" commences. For differing people with differing genes it might start earlier - or later - than the age of Medicare eligibility. And that is the problem with making a carte blanche statement about people being better off growing old in the US as too many people in the US find out to their cost. Personally, I'm more inclined to pin the concept of "growing old" more to when statistics tell us that rates of serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease start to grow exponentially. And that's a decade or so before the current age of Medicare eligibility. Sure, those illnesses can occur at any age, but the reality is they rarely do.

And yet the US spends 50% more as a percentage of its GDP on healthcare for no discernible benefit in terms of the major indices of health outcomes... Pretty amazing givne everyone gets "crap service" on the NHS.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I'd take issue with this. To my eyes, it's not so much a case of "whinging" but making sure that those who haven't got here yet are fully aware that this isn't the land of milk and honey that many thing it is.

A lot depends on your circumstances of moving here and where you move to. If my UK employers hadn't closed the data center I was going to manage 2 weeks before our move, I'm sure my experience would have been different and a lot more positive. As it was, I arrived in the US in January 2002 with my wife, 2 cats, a dog and no job. No big deal I thought. I hadn't interviewed for a position in the UK for over 10 years. Companies came to me, not the other way around. I had a good degree from one of the top universities in the UK. But guess what? I found out that UK work experience doesn't count for squat in the US. That's not whinging, it's a fact. My degree in theoretical physics is useless when looking for IT jobs. They'd rather you had a 30 year old computer science degree.

I ended up selling cars for over a year just to get some money in. Then, I did land a nice IT job through contacts I had made there (in my experience, the US is all about networking, especially employment wise). Great I thought. A nice network engineering gig at $35 per hour and medical for the family. My paycheck come up at the end of my second week. It was more than a little light. Upshot was that they decided they couldn't afford the $35 an hour so they were paying me $12 an hour and I could like it or lump it. By the way, they back-tracked on the medical too. My options? Leave or sue. No real employment protection here. Just to rub salt on the wound, I found out they were charging a premium to clients for my services because of my knowledge and experience.

Nowadays, I'm running my own consulting business. I don't make great money, but it's comfortable. I live in a geographically beautiful part of the world. As others have said, the US is very, very diverse, even within a state. I live in Oregon. To most people, that will bring up a vision of a tree covered, rainy, liberal bastion in the north west. Not if you cross to east of the Cascade mountains where I live. I have a friend here who moved from rural Louisiana. He says this is the most "redneck" place he has ever lived. It's very right wing and xenophobic, not just to foreigners, but to anyone from outside the area. Pretty ironic considering that tourism is the main industry. Why am I here? My wife moved here to be close to an old friend. They no longer talk. Oh joy!

So, in summary, my experience is that if you move here with a good job lined up and to a place you feel you fit in, then it could be a good move. Just be aware that it is a foreign country. Things are done differently and attitudes are very, very different. It's a culture shock, no matter how much American TV, films or other culture you drink down. As I said, it's not a case of whinging, it's making people who haven't made the move aware of some of the pitfalls.

Would I still move? Yes I would, but only with a decent job and to one of the more cosmopolitan areas.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

"Substantive" ranks right up there with "virtually". You get virtually spotless dishes with Wow Detergent! People see "virtually spotless" and think "spotless"... but they don't mean the same thing. People see "substantive constitutional right" and they think "constitutional right"... but they don't mean the same thing!

At any rate, I stand by my assertion... you're welcome to disagree!

Ian

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

as is the Supreme Court. I know who my money's on :)

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I'd heard it was renamed as well....:D

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Wow. If someone from rural Louisiana says that your neighbourhood is the most redneck place he has ever been - it must be pretty darn redneck. Can't be worse than Arkansas though (if this thread is anything to go by). Check out the weird Confederate shrine in the photo at the bottom of the page.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=179479

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Seriously, maybe apart from the confederate flags, you could take photos like that in any part of the US I've visited.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

What? - Even this

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/...a653c996_o.jpg

Most redneck place I've seen so far was in Vermont of all places - I think it was called Searsburg. It was all the more surprising as it comes at you out of the blue after a couple of pristine villages then all of a sudden it's like you have been transplanted to the Ozarks.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

I think the post 17 on that thread summed it up for me....at least on the states I've been to.

Quote
You can find similar trashy scenes in many, if not most, states in the country (including California and Sarah Palin's Alaska). I've seen areas of Hawaii that would totally shock most people.

The extent of it varies from state to state, though. From my travels, it's most noticeable in the south, and I don't think that should be a surprise considering the amount of poverty.

There are probably people all over the world who would never guess we have such poverty in this country (including cultural poverty).

Unquote

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Well said - another Yorkshire lass agrees with you!:thumbsup:

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

There are 11 States I have not been to; predominantly up in NE, Idaho and WY.

The most poverty stricken of all that I've seen is MS, I was stunned. I stayed in Greenville, MS and traveled the levee roads down to Vicksburg. Met folk who observe MLK Day and those who call that day, Robert E. Lee's Birthday. But as touched on previously, it's a Southern (Confederate) State... so no surprise!

The poverty in places here far exceeds that in the UK and I would include Hawai'i in that too... for those of you that have been to Moloka'i, you'll understand what I mean! Hence many native Hawai'ians want back under the Union Flag (UK).

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Yes, drive round almost any rural area and you'll see that.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Oh absolutely Bob. I think every state needs to look more closely at their gun laws, especially after what happened in Tuscon. More stringent controls are definitely required.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Well you know the old saying - it takes a "community" to raise an idiot......;)

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

That's most of Maine that is :lol:

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

sorry- I will cut and snip the part of the quote I am responding too every time and will absolutely continue to do so. If i respond to the post as a whole I will quote the whole.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

Who died and made you the thread police? Deal with it.

Ian

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

You really better hope you never end up in court and have any statements you make brought under cross-examination or you are going to be SO disappointed.

Re: Is this really, that terrible compared to UK?
 

That looks just like the county we live in, poor, theres even a few confederate flags around here and they have them in the back window of the trucks.