On the heals of a discussion in p.b.i over who has the most violent society, by
coincidence, I ran across these two videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaUfG75tdWY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqGyRtnjae8

What do you all think?

The lady echoed what then-Senator John Kerry said around 10 years ago about the
USA squandering its goodwill.  It is something that I have sensed from here in
America, but I have been outside the country only once since Kerry made that
remark, and even then, I didn't get a good sense of what the locals thought of
us.  However, I can believe it, because I myself was furious at the Bush
administration's actions, and at the short-sighted, imperialist "Bush Doctrine."

I also believe what she said about Americans having a sense of entitlement
abroad simply because they are Americans.  I have witnessed this embarrassing
behavior multiple times, and long before Bush the Lesser became president.  This
self-appointed concept of "American exceptionalism" seems to have gone to our
heads, and we seem oblivious to how pompous it makes us appear to the rest of
the world.  On the other hand, I have also witnessed the same behavior from
European visitors to the Caribbean.

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On 23/12/2014 15:10, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> What do you all think?

You are sticking your head above the parapet. With this, Cuz. ;-)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On 12/23/2014 01:24 PM, Stephen wrote:
> On 23/12/2014 15:10, Cousin Ricky wrote:
>> What do you all think?
>
> You are sticking your head above the parapet. With this, Cuz. ;-)

That bad, eh?

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On 23/12/2014 18:48, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> On 12/23/2014 01:24 PM, Stephen wrote:
>> On 23/12/2014 15:10, Cousin Ricky wrote:
>>> What do you all think?
>>
>> You are sticking your head above the parapet. With this, Cuz. ;-)
>
> That bad, eh?
>

Give me a while to make it as polite as I can. :-)

But as a taster, I'm glade we Brits have been superseded youse


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On 23/12/2014 20:09, Stephen wrote:
> On 23/12/2014 18:48, Cousin Ricky wrote:
>> On 12/23/2014 01:24 PM, Stephen wrote:
>>> On 23/12/2014 15:10, Cousin Ricky wrote:
>>>> What do you all think?
>>>
>>> You are sticking your head above the parapet. With this, Cuz. ;-)
>>
>> That bad, eh?
>>
>
> Give me a while to make it as polite as I can. :-)
>
> But as a taster, I'm glad we Brits have been superseded youse
>
>
First we have to differentiate between Americans and America. Then 
remember that this is my personal opinion and I come from only one part 
of Europe.
Most Americans that I have met and worked with, I have liked. They are 
personally polite and helpful. But they have an attitude and arrogance 
that bellies belief. The phrase “the power of the dollar” is upper most 
in their mind. Not unlike the attitude of the British Empire of not so 
long ago. The woman whose blog you posted is a prime example. Her gold 
standard is typical. “I and we are the only opinions that count.” A lot 
of what she says is true but the way she says is downright rude to my 
ears. I have heard newly arrived, in Britain, Americans criticise our 
way of life out loud in public. We are told that we are uptight when I 
would say that we know the meaning of restraint in public. (We could go 
into the differences of our nations but I think that most people take 
London as the norm and it is not and I won’t.) But on the whole 
Americans who have a passport and realise that they are not in their own 
country are well liked. Well by me. I was very touched when I was 
working in Oz that an American gave me an American dictionary as a joke.
When it comes to the way you your government acts. We are horrified. 
(BTW I was horrified by the way our government toadied to yours over the 
last couple of Middle East wars and think that the members of our 
cabinet should be tried as war criminals.) Your politicians think that 
they can do no wrong and if they have done. The means justified the 
ends. As an internal instance I give you the several instances recently 
of police brutality against black and Hispanics. (OMG Am I allowed to 
say that? I mentioned someone’s skin colour.) And you cannot spell ;-)
Before I finish, I liked the man’s video. It did not seem that he was 
taking it personally.
So IMO, Americans +1 America -1 (for large values of -1) And God wills 
it so, as it says in the Old Testament. (I’ll finish now before that 
sets me off on a rant) :-)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> So IMO, Americans +1 America -1 (for large values of -1)

You understand that America is a continent, not a country? I think you
are confusing it with the United States.

(I'm kidding, of course.)

Anyway, it just so happens that I recently wrote a blog post related
to this very subject.
http://grindedgear.blogspot.fi/2014/11/my-love-hate-relationship-with-usa.html

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On 23/12/2014 21:17, Warp wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aolcom> wrote:
>> So IMO, Americans +1 America -1 (for large values of -1)
>
> You understand that America is a continent, not a country? I think you
> are confusing it with the United States.
>

Bloody hell! You are right.

> (I'm kidding, of course.)
>

Just being sarky, of course.

> Anyway, it just so happens that I recently wrote a blog post related
> to this very subject.
> http://grindedgear.blogspot.fi/2014/11/my-love-hate-relationship-with-usa.html
>

It's too late for an old man to read it properly. I'll do that tomorrow.

I am off to destroy a few spaceships.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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On 12/23/2014 8:10 AM, Cousin Ricky wrote:
> I also believe what she said about Americans having a sense of entitlement
> abroad simply because they are Americans.

This is the case for some others too, not just the US, but.. we have had 
50 years of idiots telling us our shit smells like wild flowers, and 
everything we do is great, even the screw ups. Its bound to have an 
impact, right up until the next generation, who, sadly, seem to be split 
between those that still fall for the Reagan, "Government is the 
problem.", lie, and being fed up with all of the BS.

Note, the former... Read "Merchants of Doubt", to get an understanding 
of how that came about. Its what makes Fox News what it is, and why they 
can claim to be "fair and balanced", when they are nothing of the sort. 
Even when we had a fairness doctrine, there was no requirement that 
"fair" mean "accurate", just that both sides be represented. Like the US 
failure with environmentalism, in which it tried to argue against 
mitigation of everything from acid rain, to the current global warming 
issues, is about bending the evidence, to suggest it costs too much, or 
is not as bad as the "bad guys" in academia say it is (who are, of 
course, all liberals, according to such people, even when they are not). 
Its what led certain idiots to think that SDI was going to work too. 
This is the recipe:

1. Like war, or unrestrained capitalism, etc. For example - believe that 
it is possible to "win" the cold war.

2. Create a special comity, or even bloody think tank, which dedicates 
itself to "correcting" the "bad science" being put out by all those 
people that, in the long run, turned out to be right.

3. Push out endless opinions on what Russia intends to really do, what 
they are planning, technology they don't have, but insist they must 
have, otherwise they would still be working on it (instead of, say, 
writing it off as impossible), and presenting the most favorable 
possible position on the odds of the entire human race being wiped out, 
or starving to death.

4. Suggest that, therefor, the best solution is illegal ABM systems, 
and/or more nukes...

These are the people that have been "winning" by misrepresenting the 
truth to the public, about everything, including how successful the US 
is, compared to the rest of the world, at everything. And, even the 
journalists that should know better, sadly, fall for it, and publish it. 
Fox... is simply, and nothing less, than the end result of this idea. 
That, if you can say anything, to represent the facts, in the best 
light, for your side, even if the truth is not even on the same planet, 
then only "pretend" to present the other side's views, with any level of 
accuracy. It makes money, while.. taking real threats seriously costs 
money. Admitting you are wrong means less trust, while lying your ass 
off leads to loyalty. Etc.

Huh. Actually a video on Fox about this, that popped up today: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P74oHhU5MDk

Its all "Merchants of Doubt". That is where it started, and its a 
winning strategy - as long as the public doesn't know the difference 
between the truth, and facts that are distorted to represents what a 
specific, pro-capitalist, pro-business, anti-liberal, environmentally 
tepid, etc. position *wants* to be true.. And, we have had 50 years of 
people honing the methods of doing this, while telling us we are the 
"best country on the planet". Even people that know its bullshit, but 
especially those that do not, fall for the narrative, on some level.

The other news agencies, after all, at best, don't say anything that 
might upset their own owners, and, at worst, won't be caught dead 
actually telling the public that one side, or the other, is just dead, 
flat, full out, WRONG.

--
Commander Vimes: "You take a bunch of people who don't seem any 
different from you and me, but when you add them all together you get 
this sort of huge raving maniac with national borders and an anthem."

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On Tue, 23 Dec 2014 10:10:26 -0500, Cousin Ricky wrote:

> What do you all think?

I think there are times when I'm embarrassed by either our government or 
by Americans.

It's stupid to say we're "the greatest nation on Earth" when as a nation 
we suck at math and have such a high rate of people believing stupid shit 
and engaging in a denial of science.  This stupid trend of "all theories 
are equal" when some are such clear bullshit has to stop.

I don't believe we can believe our way to the top.  I think being the 
best means (a) having the moral high ground (we don't), (b) actually 
being good at the stuff we think we're good at, and (c) taking care of 
our citizens and making sure (for example) our kids get a good education 
instead of indoctrination into thinking that we're #1 only because we say 
it's true.

I get tired of arguing with obliviots (term borrowed from Randy Cassingham 
at thisistrue.com) about things like health care reform, education, and 
the importances of vaccinations when I see (for example) common core 
being ridiculed because "I don't get it", but when I call people out and 
explain, I get told that *I*'m "rude and ignorant" (true story:  This 
happened on Facebook, and it was a member of my own family who said that) 
when I say something like "well, what is pictured there is a number line; 
I learned about those in elementary school in the 70's."

But somehow *I*'m the ignorant one, even though *I* know what a fucking 
number line is, and the idiot who's making fun of a "new way of teaching 
math" (which actually makes sense and builds thinking skills that apply 
to higher forms of math) is *not* the ignorant one?  Puh-leeze.

BTW, same family member:  Works in the health care profession, but 
doesn't believe herd immunity is a thing.  They get vaccinated because 
they work in health care, but it's apparently unnecessary to get everyone 
vaccinated because not everyone works around people who are 
'immunocompromised'.  Because I guess we all know everyone around us at 
all times and whether or not they can handle getting the flu or 
something. *sigh*

And *this* is what we call "American Exceptionalism"?  Or that we have a 
museum devoted to *Creationism*?  Or that we have a bunch of people who 
deny climate change because, well, God will take care of it for us?  Or 
that Jesus was a great guy, and taught us to love our neighbour and all 
that stuff, but we have to be ARMED TO THE FUCKING TEETH because ....

Sorry, I can feel my blood pressure rising. That's bad, so I'm going to 
top ranting there.

Anyways, the list goes on and on.  And it's arrogance like this combined 
with ignorance like this that makes the country I live in a very 
dangerous country on the global stage.

Sorry, that turned into more of a rant than I expected. :)

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

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