OT: control on TV content

I am sorry for your loss...

you don't, it's its.

likewise yours

On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 21:44:32 +0200, Jan Andersson scribbled this interesting note:

Provincialism is everywhere to be found.

Well, this is not exactly true in the way I think you mean it. The wonderful thing here is the ability each of us has to create a life and live that life pretty much exactly the way each individual wants to live it. I know lots of people will not understand or will not be able to achieve it, but equal opportunities are within the grasp of just about everyone here. The catch? Hard work, education, and the willingness to create what is desired.

You may well wish to flame me for this next statement, but I happen to regard Europe as a whole, not a collection of itsy-bitsy kingdoms. Taken as a whole, from Gibraltar to the Urals it too has a remarkable number of "plain idiots and fame-seeking other retards"!:~)

You, Sir, have been recognized!:~)

When we meet I'll take you up on this as I know the point is on top of your head!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

Oh, the real estate is great! It's the *people* who suck! Many of U.S., many times. Not always, but a lot. And so publically too! And we stand up for our suckiness and defend it, like it's a good thing or sumpin! Bah! :-(

John Kuthe...

Ant wrote:

That's all fine and I can admire that, but if the goal comes from what you see on TV... I think it soon becomes a little unrealistic, and /or unhealthy. If not for the person living it, then maybe for others around him. I'm thinking of easy money and violence you see on tv, often glamourized. Just to make an example.

Or regardless of it :)

Well, there's no real "WE" in Europe, it consists of several very independent and self-aware nations that would probably be offended if they were referred to as "those europeans". Sure, we have the EU, and we are trying to cooperate and share some of our resources etc., but it's still a bunch of individual countries, each with their own identity and culture, national traits and habits, prejudices and intolerance towards other, fellow european nations. There will never be one, united Europe. Ok, so I paint a little grim picture here, but only to make a point.

Woohoo! :D

It's a deal

:D

Jan

I doubt it. Besides, It was not really worth looking at anyway. Pretty poor as far as breasts go. YBMV

-- the Grokdoc Tom Malmevik EK III & Thumper Ride w/me all that groks is god BS# 139 DOF# 69

On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 20:04:02 +0200, Jan Andersson scribbled this interesting note:

Not to beat the horse after it is already dead, but here goes...

There are places here in the U.S. where english is ostensibly the spoken language, but I'd be hard pressed to understand it. There are places in the U.S. with far different cultural moors than those I know and understand. The gulf between those who live in, say, Boston (just to pick a place at random. Choose Denver if you will, or L.A., it makes no difference) and those who inhabit the swamps of Louisiana (again, just to pick a place at random, choose other places if you will) is just as great as any two cultures you want to look at.

A friend of mine once had a partner who had this to say, and I couldn't really believe a well educated woman would say this, but it was her contention that there was no significant cultural difference between the peoples who live in Minnesota and those who live in Louisiana. If you only look at McDonalds and the movies then that may very well be the perception...

There are places in Texas where you can still hear German spoken on the street, as well as Spanish and English.

All I'm saying is the cultural differences you point to in Europe exist here to significant extents as well. Look at the history. England (and in my experience the English really don't consider themselves a part of Europe) is an interesting case in point. Celts, Anglo/Saxons, Normans. What are they but mutts these days. What about the former aristocracy and monarchs all across Europe? They are all of Germanic descent, even the Russian Tsars. And don't forget about the Vikings and everywhere they went (from Scandinavia to England to Russia to the Middle East!)

Ostensibly Europe is a collection of individual countries. Over the centuries there has been so much interaction between what were originally very different and individual tribes that you'd be hard pressed to make the case that there is no WE in Europe. Remember (and also remember that I'm not one of them) there are Southerners who would just as soon spit on a Yankee as look at him (or her.) This too is a cultural trait. Understand the history and you may begin to understand the reasons (not saying the reasons are right or wrong, but they do exist.) The Gay community in San Francisco is a completely foreign land to some folks who also live in the U.S.-a place of fear and loathing, just as the Colonias along the U.S./Mexican border are to others, and the Village in New York City would be to still other people.

There are differences everywhere. I believe that those found between the peoples of Europe really aren't as great as they may seem and certainly not significantly different from those found between different states and regions in the U.S.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

If you believe what some scientists and geologists have observed, a large part of the USA's real estate will be destroyed, and over 30% of it ruined any day now. Read about the Yosemite caldera. The effect would be worse than if the country had been hit by every nuclear missile in the world.

"There are differences everywhere. I believe that those found between the peoples of Europe really aren't as great as they may seem and certainly not significantly different from those found between different states and regions in the U.S."

Apreciate your angle on this John, but with all due respect you are off the field here. There is a long time since you had an internal war, right? Not that this is anything thing to long fore...

The differences between the European nations can at times be radical, and please do not forget the historical facts, we all go back so much further than the U.S. as known today..(Nothing negative there, just stating a fact..).

J.

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 01:19:53 +0100, "BergRace" scribbled this interesting note:

I see what you are saying. Yes the differences between Europeans can be great. Yes Europeans have seen a fair amount of war over the centuries. Yes the U.S. is a result of all those wars. So far as warfare in the U.S., there has been more of it than you might think, at least on the surface. Some of those struggles have been great, some not so valiant, and many just plain wrong. At first blush you might be tempted to say there've only been two or three "wars" fought wholly or in part over here, but it is more than that.

All I know is within just a few miles of my house I can't read signs in I don't know how many different languages. I read some Spanish and Italian, but Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, etc. are all Greek to me! Of my various roommates in college about half were born in some other country (one Korea and one India, and one pasty white guy would only date Japanese women!:~) What I am saying is there are cultural differences here in the U.S. that transcend what you may find in Europe, both because of the history of Europe and in spite of it.

Yeah, so what that the oldest house in the U.S. built by Europeans couldn't be more than four or five hundred years old (if it still existed, that is.) Don't forget that the European squabbles had their impact in the U.S. as well. Various small wars were fought in some U.S. cities (New York and some riots comes to mind) because the various European tribes couldn't get along all that well.

I dunno'. I'm rambling here. What Jan said made me think about things in a slightly different way and this is the result...you really ought to be more careful Jan as I try not to think if at all possible since you can see what may result if I start!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

I have lived in France (Metz) and England (Oxford) and traveled about Europe and the differences between places a mere few miles, compared to the US, is nothing less than profound, and thank God for it. Americans tend to forget history that's only thirty years old, while most Europeans recognize a historicial horizon of hundreds and thousands of years. "Never forget" is built into Europeans' culture while America's mantra is "Amuse me; don't confuse me."

It is just plain stupid.

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She probably keeps his dick in jar by the door.

What do you mean "the U.S. is a result of all those wars"? Is that another american fairy tale?

I'm snipping your text because all your spacing and "...." is annoying as hell.

I said 'related.' Check out Bill's heritage. And of course he is smart. He's smarter than all of us. Believe it. Then you pointed to Jimmie Carter. Funny how you point to people you hate, politically, when you have to find a Smart Person.

Sure. You know a lot about who I am and and what I do. You are clearly qualified to rant on as you always do with your impressionistic bullshit. Whatever makes you feel good, Tim.

Compared to Europeans it is true. Americans are so fat it's pathetic. You know that. It's your business to know that. But that's only part of the story.

Sorry, Bubba. It is true. The literacy rate in America has been going steadily down ever since. Now think - why would that be true? Look around. Answers are everywhere. I'll leave that an open assignement for just a bit longer. So who else knows why it's true? (Europeans please don't all pipe up at once. Give the American's a chance to stay on the sofa and try to Google the answer.)

..............Here's one stupid American who doesn't understand what the hell you're talking about! My Google search ("literacy rate") came up with this link first:

................Ok, how's this:

.........George W Bush has a bachelors degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

....................It doesn't make me feel very good to let your bullshit upset me like this, John.

heres my rant: i don't know where some of you live but where i live (DE) the common langauge seems to be spanish they let people in and they don't even have to speak english and you wonder why the literacy rate is down. and don't even get me started on what we owe the decedents of slaves, for heavens sake they were a commodity that was sold to us by their own people.