jjmb

Seems there are going to a whole of kids who will be denied a good life, just because of some people's outmoded outlook on life

http://www.news8austin.com/content/l...82&ArID=135687

seems have a good chance of becoming Texas law

elfman

In the interests of fairness, it should be pointed out that according to this there have seems to have been two big blackouts in Europe since the one here in 2003, one of which (in Italy) affected more people.

However, despite the US trying to blame it all on Canada (which they seem to do quite a lot), it seems the 2003 blackout kicked off in Ohio.

Bob

I think that depends on state and maybe occupation??

ladylisa

I think many of the US cars look old fashioned as well. I've recently noticed T.V adverts for newer designed US cars that say 'new european styling'

NC Penguin

See post 26 and the link within the post.




NC Penguin

fatbrit

In American English, European is a positive (but meaningless) adjective when combined with any noun other than politics.

NC Penguin

For example, at the weekend I read about topless sunbathing in some European country (it was named but I can't remember it) and this was referred to as "European"...




NC Penguin

ironporer

I have less of a problem with laws that prevent gays from adopting than I do to the laws/guidelines that prohibit whites from adopting black children...on the grounds that they would be denied their ethnic/cultural heritage in a white home.

grapefruit&milk

Yawn... America has a very high standard of living--otherwise British expats wouldn't come here, talk about how high their standard of living is, then complain about how backward the technology is.

I'm not crazy about mega-defense spending but to say our cars are backward is ludicrous. Love or hate SUVs, they're a trend that starded in the US and is catching up slowly elsewhere--despite higher gas prices in other European countries. And high-speed rail is ideal for mass-transit, but mass-transit still doesn't offer the flexibility and diversity of options seen in cars. You go from point A to point B in trains--which is why automobiles nearly bankrupted railway back in the 1940s and 1950s--and is primarily why it will never work large-scale in the US. And perhaps it's just a few isolated instances, but every time I've been on high-speed rail in Europe I've liked the service but it's been 80% empty. Or is Sunday evening not a peak time?

You can complain about banks and checking here but Americans might find lack of drive-thru banking in European banks a little behind. Each country/culture has its own preferences. I use checks rarely because debit cards are universally available here, but some people still like to write them for certain transactions--thus they remain.

Arguing about TV is futile. We have 2,000 stations, even if 80% are junk, there are a phenomenal array of options--and options in service providers.

Arguing about houses....saying American houses are cookie-cutter (which by all means many are) and using that to elevate European housing just devolves into how superior Europeans are to Americans anyway: the culture, the history, etc. Which ends in "Yawn..." yet again.

Many Americans prefer crap: in TV programs, housing, cars, vacation destinations, etc. But one person's crap is another's treasure. So rather than argue that there are objectively superior and inferior taste options, isn't it more important simply to have a diversity of options for all taste cultures to choose? I'll probably get flamed for this as well, but I'm just trying to broaden the argument so that absolutely nothing is dismissed prematurely...

rincewind

It's an arrogant view to believe that all Expats came here because America is better.

That is certainly not true in my case and many others on this forum. I'm only here to be with my wife. We would move to the UK in a heart beat but she has children that live with their father.

This country is backwards. Maybe not in technology, but certainly mentally.

Funny, my US wife holds the same opinion.

fatbrit

Reading through all your posts in this thread, I believe ignorance is at the root of your confusion.

grapefruit&milk

That probably was an arrogant speculation on my part, to which I apologize. Though it doesn't really deviate from the jaw-droppingly arrogant tenor of this thread. Thus I'm retreating from it after this post.

So sad that such a powerful country could be so backwards... Uttered by Europeans and liberal Americans most frequently, which is fine, because it definitely the case that the US is not headed in a left-leaning direction right now. But calling US "backwards" isn't something that would have ever been uttered in normal social circles prior to November 2000.

I often feel the same frustrations with the current direction this country (and much of the rest of the Western world too) is headed--but who am I to argue what's "forward" and "backwards". Again, no country, no culture, has a monopoly on this frame of mind. I don't like a lot of far-right social theories here in the US but I certainly don't think that "progress" is linear and solely the dominion of the left wing--whether it be the UN, the American coasts, or anything else.

britvic

I could not put up with a patriotic Yank! and my other half is U.S Navy, he lived in England for 8 years and now see's his country in a diffrent light, nothing to do with me I might add.

anotherlimey

From the man who said:



I would too if I were you.

AdobePinon

It's the damned screw-on metal hose connectors that really piss me off. You know, the ones that spray water back at you because you can never get them tight enough.