Apparently 40% of Americans believe the Earth to be only 6,000 years old, and don't believe in evolution. I think that these two facts may be linked.
P.S. Argharry, they also don't believe in climate change.
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Dumb America.
(28 posts) (9 voices)
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Al OPecia
offlineMemberDear Rik, thank you for re-inforcing the stereotype.
Did you reach, involuntarily, for your gun? That's why the Puritans left Merrie Old England, not to escape religious persecution, but to visit it on others. Boy, do you have one fucked-up body politic based on ideology and not evidence.
Do you believe the Earth is 6,000 years old. And is flat? I thought that you didn't like inaccuracy?
Yours
Al.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Al OPecia
offlineMemberIt's because I like America, many of the things it stands for - and nearly all of the Americans I know personally. It just makes mad that loonies who believe in a made up beardie man in the sky have so much power, actually get elected, and scorn evidence, in currently the world's most powerful nation. All that promise, pissed away.
Just saying.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Gerontius
offlineMemberI had a pal in FL who was an actual rocket scientist, worked for NASA
He was a big, bear of a man....he used to eat chocolate chip cookies and sausages washed down with a vat of Coke for breakfast.
Probably the most gifted, intelligent man I ever met....and an absolute bloody idiot at the same time.
I love Americans.
It's no coincidence that the rapid decline over there coincides with the rise of nut-job Christians.
Unless they deal with that...then the downward spiral will continue, they look around for someone to blame, can't repay their debts and we are taken to war.
Sound familiar.Posted 1 year ago # -
beau-jolly
offlineMemberCan't help thinking we would be better off as the 51st state rather than the bastard child of Europe.
Posted 1 year ago # -
shitsu_tonka
offlineMemberSpent some time in the Deep South where the scary bible-bashers tend to be located and apart from Tennessee which scared the dickens out of me I had a very good time. Loved how friendly everyone was. Even hitchhiked alone something that being of the girl persuasion I'd never contemplate here but out there I felt a lot safer generally.
When I think of the U.S I think of friendly, open communities and not much litter.
Rikkor, where's all the litter and grafitti? Every town and city I went to was staggeringly clean.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Scroat
offlineMemberWhat's all the fuss about? It's only 40%. May be a bit disturbing, but WTF. National generalisations are a bit pointless. The population's allegedly 312,520,000, so there's bound to be some good guys over there. I've met some of them.
It's like saying all Scots are alcoholic deep-fried Mars Bars junkies. Or all English people are like Boris Johnson. Although he's obviously foreign if you've seen his family tree.
And so on. I'm just a a bit Jewish Yorkshire with lots of Whittlesey.
Posted 1 year ago # -
waylandsmithy
offlineMemberI went to Noo Yoik earlier this year. As a rule, I do find that I tend to dislike cities, and people.
But I was amazed, I actually loved the place. Most people were friendly, except for one fist-gnawing retard. Couple of things that were odd, though:
- 90% of Americans seemed to treat people in the service sector like scum. It was embarrassing. I was my normal insincere, polite self, and waiters etc. were incredibly polite in response.
- Anyone with even an ounce of power, from ticket inspectors to parking attendants, wear absolutely massive badges, as if they're some kind of sheriff.
- The place is still covered in nuclear shelter signs from the cold war.
- Baseball is complete and utter shit, yet televised in every bar. Even when its rained off. No wonder they find NASCAR exciting.
Posted 1 year ago # -
rikkor
offlineMemberShitsu, you probably did not tour housing projects (your housing estates), so grafitti and litter would not be so noticeable.
Wayland, just because you spent a lot of time in the US behinds bars, do not assume that large badges are the norm. Just in jail.
We are a large country, and have more than one or two teams. Therefore, baseball or football is on 100 different places at any given moment. Only Euro-trash here pretend to watch soccer. They really don't, even if they say they do. Sorry.
Posted 1 year ago # -
shitsu_tonka
offlineMemberI didn't go to the projects but even so there was no grafitti or litter. Over here even in the poshest or nicest parts of places there will at the very least be some discarded crisp packets and a cock scribbled on a wall.
If it was in London that statue of Lincoln in Washington D.C would be gafitti tagged and bear the scars of discarded chewing gum. As it was when I saw it it was glistening with cleanliness. We English are basically filth wizards, sad but true.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Iscariot
offlineMemberRecently returned from Alabama, the buckle of the Bible belt. Everyone very polite. Service staff like waiters paid well below minimum wage and rely on tips. Black folk live in the towns, white folk live in the country. Most white men have an arsenal that a small country would be proud of. News is what your family are doing, not on the radio or TV. I was there on 9/11 and asked a local (white) man in a restaurant if he had taken part in any rememberance activities. "Nope, what they git up to in New York is their own affair, we'd welcome a few of them goddam terrorists down here...make fer good sport." He meant it. Most Churchgoers go because they do and they'd be missed if they didn't. Mostly they don't believe but can't break the cycle, because the neighbours go too.
And there are very few nutters who believe the Sarah Palin hype about the age of the world etc. Very few indeed, but they tend to be influential to the weak minded. And given the population of the US, there is a helluva lot more easily influenced people there than there are in the UK, but they are allowed to own guns. The 40% stat above is obviously meaningless, but paddle faster, I think I can hear banjo's....
Consider this - less than 10% of US citizens have a passport, and fewer than 5% have travelled to a foreign country. This includes government and military personnel.
Should we be bothered? No. Save that for the Chinese.
@ Rikkor: why you getting agitated - you live in Canada!
Posted 1 year ago # -
waylandsmithy
offlineMemberRikkor, I'd say 'not watching soccer' was a hugely positive trait, personally. It is a very stupid game played by spoilt simpletons that costs hundreds of pounds to watch.
Baseball makes cricket look pacey, though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Al OPecia
offlineMemberWhich Union Golgo? There are about 4, mind you they are all rather unattractive. New Jersey also has the biggest landfill site in the world, at one point heading to be the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard, but they stopped short because of the headlines.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Not "Union City" - that might rule a few out. It's just "Union". It's a neighbourhood a few miles West of Newark Airport. But even saying that, when I rocked up all tired and jet-lagged to check-in at the hotel and left my rented GPS unit on the reception desk, nobody nicked it. I didn't even notice I didn't have it till I was getting ready to leave the next morning, but they had looked after it, and I was able to continue my journey. A very unattractive neighbourhood, though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
rikkor
offlineMemberWho in the name of Christ crucified would ever go to Alabama? I'm certain that there are plenty of places I could find in England that would not meet my expectations, but I would just avoid going there.
Oh, and for "waiters working for minimum wage", I have some news for you. Waiters are often exempted from minimum wage, many make a lot less than minimum wage. They work for tips; waiters who make $150,000 a year in New York may receive less than minimum wage. That's the custom here, and no one is forced to become a waiter.
I don't know why that is such a concept for some English people. When you go to the Continent, they always put a service charge on your bill. Why is tipping a waiter in the US so hard for some to understand? It just makes a person look cheap if he doesn't tip.
Oh, and guess what? I know that it isn't necesary or customary to tip at some bars in the UK and Ireland, but you should try it some time. The bartenders are very happy to take the money.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Al OPecia
offlineMemberHi Rik,
Take your point, but how would you know that they didn't match your expectations without actually going there? Kind of leaves you in the same boat as the rest of us who haven't been to places that we've got opinions on, evidence wise, doesn't it?
Best
Al.
Posted 1 year ago # -
rikkor
offlineMemberAl, I'm bored playing America v. the World. So, kisses and hugs and we're all better.
I was with a friend visiting Europe once and there was grumbling about where we were. I said, "That's why people say London, Paris and Rome, not London, Paris and Klagenfurt." Some places are just not that interesting. Unless you have a special interest, I would cross Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and about 27 other US states off your bucket list. (That being said, I tend to have fun everywhere I go. There's always a party, even in Des Moines.)
Posted 1 year ago #
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