WHY is america so screwed up?

[madmax15]

No disrespect. I'm not in America. I can't remember hearing of high school shootings so frequent elsewhere. But WHY is America so screwed up? There is more news and contreversy fom America than any other country I can think of.

Edited May 2, 2014 by nirvanasongz13

[MiaB]

I'm not in America either.  But have you considered that the fact that you hear so much US-related news has to do with the size of the country, and its role as a super power on the world stage?  It kind of follows that it would take front and centre place in international news, but that doesn't mean you can damn the whole nation.  I could (very) easily say that my own country and other smaller ones are a mess; you're just less likely to hear about them in the international media unless you seek those stories out.

 

I'm moving this to the News & Politics board, because frankly, putting it under "People Suck" IS disrespectful.

[brainweather]

while there's no doubt america is f'd up (and maybe it's reasonable to say that it's more f'd up than other countries), all most countries are. the US is a super power, and this is reflected through the widespread impact of american media conglomerates. the reason america seems to be so outrageous is because we primarily hear about america. the media is central to american culture and they have the revenue to back it up. i live in canada and our media outlets are bombarded with american news stories and american music and american films and american youtube videos and our magazines are filled with american products and american celebrity features, etc. we define ourselves in relation to the US whether we want to admit it or not. america may not be the most crazy or horrible global player, but it is no doubt the loudest. i dunno where you live but your country most certainly has dirty laundry, it's just not aired out on such an international scale.

 

p.s. i haven't slept in quite some time now so if this makes no sense, i'm hereby not to be held responsible. 

Edited May 2, 2014 by brainweather

[mellifluous]

No disrespect. I'm not in America. I can't remember hearing of high school shootings so frequent elsewhere. But WHY is America so screwed up? There is more news and contreversy fom America than any other country I can think of.

 

 

ok...so i'm mostly terrified of the television, and can't watch it and wont' let it get hooked up to our house.i hate cables, but...i have seen television before even if not currently. and my take:

 

sadly, i think that's because the horrible human rights violations and exploitation of those in developing nations and so many other things are brushed aside for news stories that're...sexy or glossy or involves a celebutante OR that are provocative insofar as they will capture the biggest viewership... and that means...pricier adverts...more viewers and ...i don't know. that pretty much exhausts my knowledge of television in that sense, but it's all about the advertising and that's about..number of viewers.... and people want what's shocking and so forth. so, that's why i think the content of the news is what it is.

 

as far as america being superlatively fucked up...we also have a thousand television channels or something and it's saturation. if you were bombarded by all of the things going on around the world with equal time... i think you'd find fucked up shit happens everywhere. you might not've heard of school shootings elsewhere... but i think there are atrocities committed against people every day that are equally shocking and heinous and fucked up...you just dont' hear about them. that's in part because a lot of countries don't have anything like "freedom of the press" and others for any number of reasons.

 

like...how often do school shooting happen? i don't know, but there is still institutionalized slavery in the world and genocide and gross human rights violations happening daily. you just don't hear about them. you don't hear that there are young children made indentured servants and forced to work in mines in brazil and other places... i get that the school shootings are fucked up. i don't think they're more fucked up than what happens daily across the globe, but because our media sensationalizes shit, focuses on news events that will sell adverts and prioritizes generally prioritizes talking about bullshit....like...the OJ simpson trial. why the fuck was that on television? wasn't that whole thing televised? i kinda recall that as a kid. why would that trial get more news coverage than something like the rwandan genocide?

 

school shootings are a good way to have a lot of "human interest" stories...and people can go on and on about that having happened...and becauase it's so heavily sensationized and coverage when i happens..i must seem like it's happening all of the time. somehow ignore the fact that a significant percentage of women in the DRC have been  and more continue to be, raped by militias or little lawless gangs, simply because they can. and those often include adolescents simply because they can. that's pretty fucked up. we don't hear about it though...and there's not exactly a procedure for prosecution.

[MiaB]

 i dunno where you live but your country most certainly has dirty laundry, it's just not aired out on such an international scale.

 

 

Yes, this is exactly what I was trying to say earlier.

[Will]

Also, it depends on your news source.  If you read/watch FoxNews, we're great except for the liberals.  If it's the Guardian, we suck big time, and it's not just our leadership, it's a societal problem.  

[Indigo 'n dye]

Also, it depends on your news source.  If you read/watch FoxNews, we're great except for the liberals. ...

 

LOL! It obviously depends on more than the "new source": it depends on your political leanings and your personal ability to tolerate bias and blatant prejudices.

 

I certainly do not think FoxNews is "great". I prefer my news less sensationalized and with less of an agenda.

 

As has already been said, the US is no more "screwed up" than any other nation. As Melli points out, often human rights violations (female circumcision, forced abortions, child exploitation, genocide, etc.) are overlooked, or looked around, in favour of the latest Paris Hilton escapade.

 

However, that is NOT the USA. Most citizens get up, go to work, and come home just like they do in every other country in the world.

[Unstrung Harp]

No disrespect. I'm not in America. [.....] But WHY is America so screwed up? There is more news and contreversy fom America than any other country I can think of.

I kind of have to laugh when someone, especially as a non-resident, says something like this, but claims to not mean any disrespect. I am not a flag waver, nor am I a fan of the Americentrism that many in my country display. But really? The US is vast. Our population is 314 million (2012, World Bank). By comparison, the UK's population is 63 million, Canada's is 35 million, Australia's is 23 million, Ireland and New Zealand each less than 5 million (I think I've covered most of my CB population here, but forgive me if I've left out whatever country you're from). We're an extremely heterogeneous population --- economically, educationally, ethnically, and religiously. I could drive a maximum of 500 miles and feel like I'm almost in a different country, in terms of demographics, dialect, and dominant political and social values. Part of my country is closer to Russia than it is to me. Imagine trying to govern that, or even just keeping that whole mess of crazy together. Screwed up? Certainly, but, probably not more than most places on balance, and probably a lot less than a lot of places. Extremely complex? Yes. And certainly, as others have noted, there is a disproportionate amount of news, both good and bad, broadcast around the world about the US.

[San]

I think there are plenty of worse places to live than the USA, and I'm saying this as a Canadian. (Trust me, I wouldn't give up my citizenship in Canada for anything, but look at North Korea and other places in the world)

[malachite]

I am not a fan of nationalism, in any country, and don't believe America is the greatest place on earth. I have a lot of issues with our politics. But, that said, there are worse places to be, especially if you're a woman. I definitely bitch about this country a lot, but guess what? I have the RIGHT to bitch about this country and that can't be said for every country. I think as a global superpower we will fall, just as global superpowers tend to do. We may have to fundamentally change in certain areas. There is a lot violence, but, as said above, we are a HUGE country. Enormous. I've driven across most of the country and been to 41 states and it's so varied and that's part of what makes us unique and kinda awesome in that sense.

[Emettman]

 Lots of places worse than the USA.

 

"There is more news and contreversy fom America "

Does cover a lot of the answer though: both in terms of the sheer volume of modern news and its new immediacy, and in the highly selective nature of the news.

 

Viewed objectively and proportionately, things are not so bad at all, but a range of self-operating factors work to make most of the messages we see and hear negative through to disastrous.

 

Average life expectancy in the USA has been steadily climbing for the past 50 years.

That doesn't speak of a ravaged chaotic country spiralling towards anarchy.

Yes, that is literally dealing with a population-sized sample, so there is room for any story of remarkable success or horror to crop up.

And guess what is more prone to make the news?

 

Crime, taken a range of categories, has been broadly dropping in the USA for the past twenty years.

 

Terrorism would barely appear on the news, if time  on US news was given in proportion to risk of premature death for people in the USA.

In the month of 9/11, approximately the same number of people died prematurely on American roads. And then the next month, and the next and...

Life is risky.  But as that average life expectancy shows, actually less risky day by day, year by year, now than in the past!

 

What's been lost is a sense of context and proportion, I suggest.

By the media and because of the media.

 

While "media studies" courses do tend to get laughed or sneered at, there is a massive need for the right sort of course, explaining what the media is good at bad at, and how and why.

 

This is not new, it's just getting bigger.

And most people (including, I suspect  many inside the media) are not taught to understand and manage the media.

(That rampaging thing with many mouths, devouring and then regurgitating *what it chooses*.   From the then Belgian Congo cames the notorious call by a journalist: "anybody here been raped and speaks English?   Bad luck if your story was outside what the media wanted to handle, or could handle, or could sell, even then.)

 

Chris.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Emettman

[koa]

You can see from this link that, that the US has a farily high rate of homicide, although it is by no means the most dangerous country in the world.

[sonicwhite]

Not to offend anypne here.....it's because of the condition of the heart.......We as humans are born pure in a planet of evil and madness.....So to just flat out say it......You have to dig down deep into the heart and learn from your mistakes....Evil will always be in the world......I'm just glad my conscience no longer bothers me in the sense that over the years I have learned from what I suffered.

[madmax15]

You can see from this link that, that the US has a farily high rate of homicide,

And America has the death penalty. Shame doesn't deter spontaneous murders.

Edited May 3, 2014 by nirvanasongz13

[koa]

You are acting like most of the murders are from school shootings.  Yes, there are WAY too many school shootings here, but it isn't like all our kids fear dying when they go to school. 

 

What country are you in?

Edited May 3, 2014 by koakua

[madmax15]

You are acting like most of the murders are from school shootings. Yes, there are WAY too many school shootings here, but it isn't like all our kids fear dying when they go to school.

What country are you in?

Australia. I don't *think* we have had a school shooting to this day.

[crtclms]

That's right! Australia had no social problems. For instance, there is no long history of mistreatment of the indigenous peoples, the way there is the the US. 

 

Oh, wait, I forgot. There totally is. About half of the Australians I met still talked to and about Aboriginal people like they are lesser beings. My sister who lived there until 2013 says she still heard crap like that, *especially* in the bush. Aborigines have been killed, kidnapped, harassed and had their families deliberately torn apart, up until quite recently. I believe the US was the only one to introduce germ warfare of the two, however.

 

As I am sure you already know, given the no doubt superior education you received in Australia.

 

I still love Australia, and wish we were healthy enough to immigrate there. But it ain't exactly the City on the Hill.

[Stickler]

Humans are humans. As noted upthread, the US is just more loudly human.

But speaking of Australia, what about this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2523555/Horror-Australian-incest-cult-spanned-generations-revealed.html

I mean, that is some fucked-up shit right there...what is wrong with Australia?

[Reverse The Polarity]

Port Arthur Massacre

 

Snowtown Murders

 

Backpacker Murders

 

The Granny Killer

 

Moorhouse Murders

 

You have to be living a REALLY sheltered life if you think Australia hasn't dealt with our share of murderers and fucked-up people. Also, since we have pretty strict gun control laws, it is very difficult for minors to have access to firearms which greatly reduces the opportunity for a school shooting. 

 

You know what's really really screwed up about Australia? Dropbears. 

[mellifluous]

whoa!

 

i'd never heard of dropbears before! a leopard sized marsupial that hunts by dropping on you from a tree....but i will now be avoiding australian forests : D

[jt07]

I love Australia, but man, they have some wild, wild nature down there. So many poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, man-eating crocodiles, sharks, and now dropbears.

[mellifluous]

maybe they should import a few snipe hunters to get those populations in check. ; )

 

be sure to add whatever preys on snipe hunters though .

 

prolly not a wise move to introduce another invasive species with no natural predators.

[WinterRosie]

Australia did in fact have a mass shooting. I believe that it was in the 1980s though I may be wrong. The result of it was to bring in strict gun control laws. That's what happened in my country, too. We had a mass shooting and it was so upsetting that we still honour it and the lives lost every year (Dec 6). We brought in stricter gun control measures (since repealed, because...)

 

In America gun control is a boondoggle because of the NRA and because of the constitution leaving out "when serving in a militia" as a part of the second amendment. I suppose the founding fathers thought that it was a given, having already been mentioned once. It's a boondoggle because of fear, and because of the sort of mentality that it took to found such a large swath of land with various peoples, animals, etc in the first place.

 

No country is a utopian wonderland and this OP is based on so much ignorance and "holier-than-thou" supposition that it's painful. 

[MiaB]

No country is a utopian wonderland and this OP is based on so much ignorance and "holier-than-thou" supposition that it's painful. 

 

 

I have to agree.  nirvana, you've made zero effort to engage with the very valid points that were made about mass media bias, which just highlights ignorance on your part.  I see nothing to be gained by "my country is better than yours" type discussions, even if you had tried to start things off with a coherent debate, which you didn't.  Consider that CB is a community with members from all over the world, and think before posting random inflammatory statements next time.  You're lucky none of the Americans really climbed into you, which they actually had the right to do.

[Catnapper]

I would have to change the OP's remark to "Why is humanity so screwed up?"  It's not just America, you just hear about us more.

[hagar]

Lol, this thread has cracked me up. Thanks, nirvana. 

[Emettman]

 

You know what's really really screwed up about Australia? Dropbears. 

 

 

Oh yes.. 

When I was on my first visit to Australia, and staying with an Australian friend's parents, on the coffee-table, almost covering the coffee table, was a nice tourist information book called "The Dangerous Creatures of Australia."

Impressively thick, too.

The land where picking up sea-shells can kill you.

 

There's a song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy_TB6onHVE

 

But you know what?  You shouldn't be worrying about any of them till you've finished worrying about that far greater threat:

Australian drivers.

("Drink Drive, Bloody Idiot" as a campaign there once memorably went)

 

No worries.

 

Chris

[olga]

I have seen hard-bitten New Yorkers help a visually disabled person across the street.

 

In almost every town in America, you can find a food bank for the hungry, an animal shelter for the cats and dogs, a public library and free public schools.

 

America has millions of volunteers.  In most of our small towns and cities, the fire company is entirely volunteer.  The work done with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, soccer leagues, churches, Lions' Clubs, Rotary Clubs and other service organizations is ALL done by volunteers.

 

We give money to charity.  We have a group called Literacy Volunteers of America to help people learn to read.  Our YMCAs and YWCAs depend on contributions of money and time from people in their communities.

 

Our elderly people have a group called Retired Senior Volunteers, and they drive their peers to medical appointments and other errands.  We have groups of retired business people who volunteer their time to help people learn how to start a new businesses.  We have people who run 4-H clubs, civic groups, museums, historical societies and historic homes.

 

And.....guess what??  You can find these same civic-minded people all over the world.  They are in Europe, and in Africa, and in Australia.  America doesn't have a monopoly on good-hearted citizens.  We have had some sick individuals who killed other people with guns, but that happens in other places, also.

 

Generalizations are always inaccurate and unkind.

 

olga

[madmax15]

I was under the impression you HAVE to work for your money. There's no real welfare benefits. No work NO money that's why its so tough. I might be wrong. Maybe I am. I never lived in America but that's what I heard.

[olga]

We have a social safety net.  Our "welfare" is called Temporary Assistance, and people who are totally broke and need help can receive it for 6 months.  At that point, the social worker tries to help the person move into some sort of vocational training, college, or works with them to get employment.

 

If you are totally disabled and have no assets, you can receive SSI and Medicaid.  That is a very limited stipend that will probably be combined with food stamps and subsidized housing.

 

If you have worked a certain number of years and become disabled, you can apply for Social Security Disability payments, and some of our CB members are receiving that.  Being on SSDI also makes you eligible to apply for Medicare.

 

Social service benefits vary widely from state to state.  It isn't easy to survive on disability benefits, but it's possible.  Many people end up living with family members or friends, because that is the only way they can afford to live.  We don't have a socialist-type system---this is true.  But there are many programs in place to help people. 

 

Our big failing is in not having universal health care for everyone in our country, and I freely admit that this is a huge downside to living in the USA.  But I see examples of Americans helping their fellow citizens every day.

 

olga

[Will]

I don't like to cite Wikepedia.  But it's quick in this instance and you can do your own further research.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_programs_in_the_United_States

 

They're starting drug testing in my state for welfare benefits, which I think is coming from a wrongheaded direction (and coming from the usual wrongheaded direction for such things) but that's just where I live, which is a very conservative state.  As as been said repeatedly here, it's a big country.  Again, I recommend you do your own research.  It's easy enough to find answers and whatever stats you need.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Will

[Wooster]

There is a basic safety net of a sorts in the US. If you are never able to work due to a disability, you qualify for a program called SSI. It is not enough to live on, unfortunately. If you combine SSI with low income housing, reduced utilities, free medical care, food stamps, and lots of generosity from free clothing places and food banks, you may be able to make it from month to month. You have to pay for EVERYTHING except health care. There are "spend down" amounts that require you to have less than a couple thousand in savings and you can't have a car that's worth more than X amount of dollars.

If you are able to work, you pay into a system called SSDI (disability insurance). The amount you get paid if you qualify for SSDI is determined by the wages you earned when you were able to work and the number of "eligible quarters" of work you have. It is sometimes enough to live on, but you will still be in poverty, depending on how much you earned when you were working. When you get SSDI, after 2 years you qualify for Medicare for health insurance. You pay a monthly premium plus copays plus prescription drug coverage. You don't qualify for many of the programs that people on SSI qualify for.

But I suspect you weren't necessarily referring to this concept of a social safety net with your comment.

Ha... Olga and I posted at the same time...

the availability of "temporary assistance" and the forms it takes and the requirements that come with it vary WIDELY from state to state. Most places require that you spend at least 20 to 30 hours a week in training, education, rehabilitation, or searching for employment.

[madmax15]

You live somewhere that they just hand out money for doing nothing? If so, let the rest of us in on it so we can sign up too.

It's called CENTRELINK...

Edited May 4, 2014 by nirvanasongz13

[Reverse The Polarity]

OP: you must be really young, or really sheltered or both. 

 

Also, there are requirements for someone to stay on Centrelink payments.

 

Re: dropbears. Always, ALWAYS bring vegemite with you when walking through the Australian bush. So many tourists forget this and are subject to savage attacks. Don't be a statistic. PUT VEGEMITE BEHIND YOUR EAR. 

Edited May 4, 2014 by Reverse The Polarity

[Stickler]

OP: you must be really young, or really sheltered or both. 

 

Also, there are requirements for someone to stay on Centrelink payments.

 

Re: dropbears. Always, ALWAYS bring vegemite with you when walking through the Australian bush. So many tourists forget this and are subject to savage attacks. Don't be a statistic. PUT VEGEMITE BEHIND YOUR EAR. 

I wonder if Vegemite would prevent chupacabra visitations.

I bet it would.

Have to take it camping the next time I go, better safe than sorry.

Edited May 4, 2014 by Stickler

[Emettman]

 

 

Generalizations are always inaccurate and unkind.

 

olga

 

Would you want to make that a "nearly always", Olga?

(Poor generalisations, all being lumped together like that....)

 

Chris.

[Emettman]

 

 Don't be a statistic. PUT VEGEMITE BEHIND YOUR EAR. 

I wonder if Vegemite would prevent chupacabra visitations.

I bet it would.

Have to take it camping the next time I go, better safe than sorry.

 

 

Behind your ear is the best place for Vegemite.  (After "safely confined in its jar", that is.)

 

Then there's the curious case of Marmite: 50% highly effective repellent, 50% wonderfully attractive savoury treat.

(This may be due to genetic sensitivities, but finding test subjects that do not either run away or scoff all the sample materials remains problematic.  Inheritance patterns are difficult to assess, as there is hardly an instance of a Marmite-lover being prepared to share a life with a Marmite-hater who won't have it in the house (and preferably not within five miles of the house.)

 

Chris

[jt07]

Lol, this thread has cracked me up. Thanks, nirvana. 

 

I agree. This is one of the more humorous threads we've had on CB for a while.

[Reverse The Polarity]

Brazil comes a pretty close second to Australia in terms of WTF wildlife. Not for the arachnophobic: Spiders in the sky

[hagar]

Brazil comes a pretty close second to Australia in terms of WTF wildlife. Not for the arachnophobic: Spiders in the sky

Holy. Fuck. Surely Armageddon is nigh.

 

I can never un-see that 0_0.

[Reverse The Polarity]

I for one welcome our new spider overlords. 

[Reverse The Polarity]

 

Then there's the curious case of Marmite: 50% highly effective repellent, 50% wonderfully attractive savoury treat.

 

Marmite is less effective than Vegemite as a dropbear repellent, it's the extra salt content of the latter that does it. 

[Emettman]

 

 

Then there's the curious case of Marmite: 50% highly effective repellent, 50% wonderfully attractive savoury treat.

 

Marmite is less effective than Vegemite as a dropbear repellent, it's the extra salt content of the latter that does it. 

 

 

Over here in the UK painting white lines in the road is 100% effective as dropbear repellent.

 

"Why are you painting white lines in the road?"

"To keep the dropbears away"

"But there aren't any dropbears around here!"

"Good stuff, isn't it?"

 

Mind you Vegemite is so generally repellent that it's surprising it doesn't float clear of the jar when the lid is removed.

Hovering Vegemite <shudders>  Let us be grateful at least for that.

 

Chris

[melissaw72]

 

 

"Why are you painting white lines in the road?"

"To keep the dropbears away"

"But there aren't any dropbears around here!"

"Good stuff, isn't it?"

 

LOL

[Reverse The Polarity]

[Emettman]

 

Thank goodness for Google and scepticism.

This product got its  launch on the Vegemite Facebook page on April 1 2014.

 

Chris

[MrTastybutt]

I love where this thread has gone.

[Emettman]

"Topic?  We don't need no steekin' topic..."

 

When does eccentric or quirky slide over into crazy or mad, anyway?

 

The research finding (only in mice, so far) that "Young blood can refresh old brains"?

There's at least one new vampire series in the making...   Bloodsucking Chess champions?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27282832

 

"Dorset knob throwing contest attracts thousands."

"The longest throw was by Dave Morrison, who tossed his knob 21.8m (71ft)."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-27259589

 

 

I just keep my sanity on stand-by, so it's there if I ever actually need it.

Chris.

[Will]

"The research finding (only in mice, so far) that "Young blood can refresh old brains"?

 

I saw that!  I'm checking around for young mouse blood banks.

[vanderk]

Shakes head, smiling all the while.  I just threw a knob 30meters.  Where are the Guiness folk when you really need them.

 

Oh, sorry, wasn't this about 'Murica???

 

I just saw an avert about a local Wal Mart Idol competition.  Oh Gawd, I imagine oversized thongs on top of Amigos.  ( I just threw up...).

Edited May 5, 2014 by vanderk

[MrTastybutt]

"Dorset knob throwing contest attracts thousands."

"The longest throw was by Dave Morrison, who tossed his knob 21.8m (71ft)."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-27259589

 

 

I just keep my sanity on stand-by, so it's there if I ever actually need it.

Chris.

I just laughed like a 12 year old at the phrase "knob tossing."

[Indigo 'n dye]

Lumberjack competition, anyone?

 

http://www.lumberjackworldchampionships.com/

 

Men and women with sharp, cutting instruments, capable of extreme injury balancing on floating logs, standing before/behind sections of large logs painted with bull's eyes, and being encouraged to run with scissors: 'Merika is screwed-up-down-sideways. Let's all hope condoms are being used!

[Emettman]

Oh, sorry, wasn't this about 'Murica???

 

I just saw an avert about a local Wal Mart Idol competition.  Oh Gawd, I imagine oversized thongs on top of Amigos.  ( I just threw up...).

 

 

The "Merkin" thing gets done from time to time.

 

Chris.

[Emettman]

I just laughed like a 12 year old at the phrase "knob tossing."

It was difficult to avoid.

I leave you, then with the highest point in Cornwall: Brown Willy.

Its location combined with the general  geography of Cornwall is such that there are two different meteorological phenomena claiming  to be "The Brown Willy Effect".

In 2012 some over-fussy people campaigned to have the hill officially revert to its Cornish name of Bronn Wennili, “hill of swallows”,

(to avoid childish, low-class sniggering, one supposes)

This immediately led to a counter-campaign under the slogan "Hands off Brown Willy."

 

Chris.

[melissaw72]

 

"The research finding (only in mice, so far) that "Young blood can refresh old brains"?

 

I saw that!  I'm checking around for young mouse blood banks.

 

 

I just heard about that too today!  It would be nice to see if it worked on humans; might help people who have alzheimers (sp).

[Emettman]

 

 

"The research finding (only in mice, so far) that "Young blood can refresh old brains"?

 

I saw that!  I'm checking around for young mouse blood banks.

 

 

I just heard about that too today!  It would be nice to see if it worked on humans; might help people who have alzheimers (sp).

 

 

Yes, drain down a few of these overenergetic teenagers and I'll be able to do my crosswords more efficiently and in  peace, too!.

Can I interest anyone in some of this delicious Soylent Green?

 

Chris.

[Stickler]

I just laughed like a 12 year old at the phrase "knob tossing."

It was difficult to avoid.

I leave you, then with the highest point in Cornwall: Brown Willy.

Its location combined with the general geography of Cornwall is such that there are two different meteorological phenomena claiming to be "The Brown Willy Effect".

In 2012 some over-fussy people campaigned to have the hill officially revert to its Cornish name of Bronn Wennili, “hill of swallows”,

(to avoid childish, low-class sniggering, one supposes)

This immediately led to a counter-campaign under the slogan "Hands off Brown Willy."

Chris. Up until a year ago, I had no idea my beloved Mr Crazypants lives near a village with the lovely name of Fingeringhoe. I somehow felt he was withholding information from me.

OTOH, I'm not sure I've ever shared that I spent part of my childhood in a town called Beaver.

Incidentally, I wonder if the knob tossing is how Terry Pratchett came up with dwarf bread...

Edited May 7, 2014 by Stickler

[Reverse The Polarity]

Cockburn Sound [pronounced Co-burn, obviously...]

[Stickler]

Cockburn Sound [pronounced Co-burn, obviously...]

Hmm, presumably the sound you'd make in Australia if you were a male who'd had a day at a nude beach and neglected to apply sunblock to his brown willy. I imagine a groaning whimper of sorts.

[Emettman]

 

Cockburn Sound [pronounced Co-burn, obviously...]

Hmm, presumably the sound you'd make in Australia if you were a male who'd had a day at a nude beach and neglected to apply sunblock to his brown willy. I imagine a groaning whimper of sorts.

 

 

In comparison the Plymouth Sound is generally a lot more raucous and boisterous.

(while being quite shallow, of course.)

 

Chris

[Emettman]

Up until a year ago, I had no idea my beloved Mr Crazypants lives near a village with the lovely name of Fingeringhoe. I somehow felt he was withholding information from me.

OTOH, I'm not sure I've ever shared that I spent part of my childhood in a town called Beaver.

Incidentally, I wonder if the knob tossing is how Terry Pratchett came up with dwarf bread...

It may irk the residents of a certain village in Devon that it is located next to a village owning possibly the most high-class name in England.

That just rubs salt in the wound.

http://goo.gl/TUHAns

 

I'm not sure on the Battle Bread, which idea is developed in a variety of ways up to the Scone of Stone itself.

 

Chris.

[Emettman]

Cockburn Sound [pronounced Co-burn, obviously...]

 

As in Co-up, or perhaps Lo-smith.

 

Chris

[Light]

I think OP might be young  

 

OP: you must be really young, or really sheltered or both. 

 

Also, there are requirements for someone to stay on Centrelink payments.

 

Re: dropbears. Always, ALWAYS bring vegemite with you when walking through the Australian bush. So many tourists forget this and are subject to savage attacks. Don't be a statistic. PUT VEGEMITE BEHIND YOUR EAR. 

 

hahahahha

 

 

OP: you must be really young, or really sheltered or both. 

 

Also, there are requirements for someone to stay on Centrelink payments.

 

Re: dropbears. Always, ALWAYS bring vegemite with you when walking through the Australian bush. So many tourists forget this and are subject to savage attacks. Don't be a statistic. PUT VEGEMITE BEHIND YOUR EAR. 

I wonder if Vegemite would prevent chupacabra visitations.

I bet it would.

Have to take it camping the next time I go, better safe than sorry.

 

 

I laughed so much - you brighten my night, you guys haha thank you 

[water]

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

[Emettman]

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

 

But that's democracy for you.

 

If the safety of others requires everyone to take a test of competence before driving a car, 

it might be considered a good idea to test for competence before allowing anyone to attempt to steer the ship of state by voting.

(Never mind actually running for office!)

But that might be a wee touch controversial and problematical, ye ken?

 

Chris.

[Stickler]

Note that the dubya crowd want to further defund education...

After all, one of the goals of compulsory schooling is to create a better democracy via a well-educated populace...

[water]

 

But that's democracy for you.

 

sometimes I just want to move to Canada.

[hagar]

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

We've been pretty screwed up in one way or another since the very beginning though....I guess a country founded by religious zealot misogynist shitheads is bound to be, though.

[water]

 

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

We've been pretty screwed up in one way or another since the very beginning though....I guess a country founded by religious zealot misogynist shitheads is bound to be, though.

 

 

which is why I am moving to canada or seattle or costa rica or new zealand or hawaii or ,,,,,,

[Indigo 'n dye]

 

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

We've been pretty screwed up in one way or another since the very beginning though....I guess a country founded by religious zealot misogynist shitheads is bound to be, though.

 

 

I recommend that everyone read Princeton Readings in American Politics, edited by Richard M. Valley. Political science Professor Valley presents his readers with the cornerstones and the foundations that each of us requires to begin to make sense of American politics as it is...today.

[San]

What the hell is vegemite anyways?

 

I like the sounds of Australia. Everyone has an awesome accent, there are awesome names for things, except everything wants to kill you there.

Hmm, I suppose it keeps people in line...

[Wooster]

Vegemite is tasty stuff! It's ground up kangaroo feet pickled in savory sea urchin.

[hagar]

 

 

America is screwed up because they voted in George Dubya Bush to a second term. Too many ethnocentric conservative racist idiots. 

We've been pretty screwed up in one way or another since the very beginning though....I guess a country founded by religious zealot misogynist shitheads is bound to be, though.

 

 

I recommend that everyone read Princeton Readings in American Politics, edited by Richard M. Valley. Political science Professor Valley presents his readers with the cornerstones and the foundations that each of us requires to begin to make sense of American politics as it is...today.

 

I'll definitely check around the local libraries for this. Thanks!

[Emettman]

What the hell is vegemite anyways?

 

 

It's a flavoured yeast-extract for those Southern Hemisphere folk who can't handle Marmite.

 

"Vegemite Challenge" and "Marmite Challenge" can be found on youtube.

As filmed by (mostly) idiots.

 

Chris/

[Stickler]

 

What the hell is vegemite anyways?

 

 

It's a flavoured yeast-extract for those Southern Hemisphere folk who can't handle Marmite.

 

"Vegemite Challenge" and "Marmite Challenge" can be found on youtube.

As filmed by (mostly) idiots.

 

Chris/

 

Marmite is heavily salted beer-vat gunk.

It is awesome...if bad news for those on a low-salt diet.

I seem to recall finding a lower-salt version, and it was still pretty salty.

 

I take it Vegemite's even saltier.

[Reverse The Polarity]

Wooster is correct. Vegemite really is

 

ground up kangaroo feet pickled in savory sea urchin.

[Emettman]

Marmite is heavily salted beer-vat gunk.

It is awesome...if bad news for those on a low-salt diet.

It takes the salt to stop the stuff growing.

Marmite coming at you, out of the jar...

...now there's a nightmare for a good proportion of the population.

I am going to have to have some for tea, now. *Thinly* spread on buttered toast.

Taste bomb.

Chris

[water]

I sniffed a jar of marmite once that a friend from England insisted was the best food ever invented by man.

that was the closest I came and will ever come to anything ending in 'mite'.

[Mim]

I sniffed a jar of marmite once that a friend from England insisted was the best food ever invented by man.

that was the closest I came and will ever come to anything ending in 'mite'.

Huh. I tried to think of something helpful to offer, but you're absolutely right...this may be the least cuddly suffix I've ever encountered.

[Will]

[Emettman]

I sniffed a jar of marmite once that a friend from England insisted was the best food ever invented by man.

that was the closest I came and will ever come to anything ending in 'mite'.

 

Never touched a stalagmite?

 

I've been in some wondrous caves in my time, 

This one were you go down at least half the way by lift, unless you are keen

The Gouffre de Padirac, France.

 

You even get to go on a little boat-trip down there.

 

But possibly my most *fun* was at a far smaller set of caves in the USA, the cave of the mounds, Wisconsin.

 

Having a few minutes before the next tour assembled and departed, and having looked at the books on offer which all seemed pretty happy that "... the Cave of the Mounds itself began to form 1 or 2 million years ago...", I asked the two guides present if there were many instances of people who had problems accepting that time-scale.

It turned out one of the two guides was sure the caves could only be about 5,000 years old, because the earth was only 6,000 years old.

Both the guides had assumed the other shared the same perspective on this point, which had not come up before, as they each led alternate parties on their own...  

 

Chris,

[hagar]

I sniffed a jar of marmite once that a friend from England insisted was the best food ever invented by man.

that was the closest I came and will ever come to anything ending in 'mite'.

I'm partial to sodomites myself...

[Will]

Was gonna drop a bunch of nasty mite pictures of Godzilla size here, really quickly, but the program wouldn't let me move that fast and I got bored with it......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Edited May 10, 2014 by Will

[Stickler]

 

Marmite is heavily salted beer-vat gunk.

It is awesome...if bad news for those on a low-salt diet.

It takes the salt to stop the stuff growing.

Marmite coming at you, out of the jar...

...now there's a nightmare for a good proportion of the population.

I am going to have to have some for tea, now. *Thinly* spread on buttered toast.

Taste bomb.

Chris

 

 

 

Marmite...it's The Stuff.

 

 

...America.  We bring you stupid horror movies.  Not sure if this is a plus or a minus.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Stickler

[Reverse The Polarity]

Plushy dust mite:

 

[Emettman]

 

...America.  We bring you stupid horror movies.  Not sure if this is a plus or a minus.

Which is more scary?  Stupid horror movies, or that they have a large audience ready to consume them?

And no, I'm not talking about the good stuff.

Chris

[Stickler]

But l like stupid horror movies.

I'm generally laughing, though...

Is Evil Dead 2 a good movie or a bad movie in your estimation?

I mean, it's no Blazing Saddles...but...

[iluvnami]

Australia?  hmmm...Ned Kelly was a saint.  

 

The USA may have school shootings but then it's not like the Sudan, Nigeria, or another place at the moment with conflict.  No country is perfect, and it's a lot better than most other places out there.... 

[water]

Alright, stalagmites, sodomites, I'll agree they are harmless.

 

Hubby just reminded me of 'that day' in Costa Rica we were introduced to marmite.

 

I think the stuff followed me out the door, down the street before it went into the sewer to look for alligators to eat.

[Will]

Hubby just reminded me of 'that day' in Costa Rica we were introduced to marmite.

 

 

 

I'm diggin' Costa Rica.  Been there.  Like it. Where I live sucks.  We got cockroaches comin' up from New Orleans and mutating. Had a visitor from California and she freaked...never seen a roach that big.  I ain't worried bout no mites.

[Mim]

I confess...I was mistaken. There are plenty of good words, I just couldn't think of any. *sigh* What can I do? I'm only American.

Stupid horror films are a crapshoot. Some of them are hilarious. Some just miss the boat and are stuck at stupid.

[Wooster]

Oh my gosh... Can't believe I didn't remember this until now...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE

And this one too...http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8chs2ncYIw

[Will]

Well, I can't ever forget this one.  Wish I could.  Nice crowd if you watch the vid.

 

[Emettman]

I'm not big into horror films, and my tastes may be odd enough that they should not be a guide to anyone else.

 

I go back to Peter Jackson's  "Bad Taste" of course.  

And more recently have gone rather Scandinavian, with "Trollhunter ", "Dead Snow" and "Rare Exports: a Christmas tale" hitting the spot.

 

In the American vein (sorry) "From Dusk Till Dawn" might be the benchmark.

 

 

Chris

[water]

Trollhunter is a great movie.

 

I have been working my way thru Netflix horror movies for a year or so.  They seem to take me right out of my life which I need at times.  Can't remember all of the best, but these come to mind:

 

 

Grave Encounters

Let The Right One In

Ju-On

Them (Ils)

House Hunting