Ferguson
What the hell is going on? Seems like the authorities have thoroughly lost the plot
Comments
-
It's on the news, 300 people rioting etc.0
-
It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.14 -
I love the states but part of the reason I love it is because it's so familiar but so damn insane at times. Like how can people exist that are this crazy. Bizarre0
-
Large chemical industry + civil unrest + media blackout = zombie outbreak10
-
We're more similar to the french than even I want to believe.1
-
no we aint
10 -
I'm surprised that took 4 mins to be fair.7
-
I've always thought that looting the nearest tyre shop is the best way to protest against injustices.1
-
It's often unpalatable for the English to hear, but aside from a few differences, the closest people to us in mindset are the Germans. Very similar in a lot of respects.7
-
Except they do things properly.............Leroy Ambrose said:It's often unpalatable for the English to hear, but aside from a few differences, the closest people to us in mindset are the Germans. Very similar in a lot of respects.
3 -
Sponsored links:
-
I think we are closest to the Dutch.0
-
Your American friends are NOT stereotypical of most Americans. Only 11% of Americans hold passports.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.0 -
Unfortunately, the past few years (post 9/11) police forces across the U.S. have become more militarized. They now carry weapons that the military has and respond in heavy-handed manner. Add in the race dimension, there is going to be plenty of trouble.ThreadKiller said:Not Sir Alex but the town of 21k people in Missouri that has been turned into a police state and a no go area for journalists that aren't reporting their designated news.
What the hell is going on? Seems like the authorities have thoroughly lost the plot0 -
I think the British are. (Not sure about the Scots :-) :-)Weegie Addick said:I think we are closest to the Dutch.
0 -
Agree that most Americans who live on the coasts are OK. Odd, some of them - but generally OK. It's the millions who live in the middle of the country who are most fucked up.2
-
I was actually just saying this yesterday. All we seem to have in common with the majority of Americans is language.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.0 -
I take it you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma, our south east London accent is a complete mystery to themHuskaris said:
I was actually just saying this yesterday. All we seem to have in common with the majority of Americans is language.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.2 -
Sure, I appreciate the truth of that. And that's why a lot of them stay here, I guess.Addick_in_Exile said:
Your American friends are NOT stereotypical of most Americans. Only 11% of Americans hold passports.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.
0 -
Don't they have subtitles for our soaps, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street etc? Idiots!Baldybonce said:
I take it you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma, our south east London accent is a complete mystery to themHuskaris said:
I was actually just saying this yesterday. All we seem to have in common with the majority of Americans is language.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.
When my sister visited New York, someone in a coffee shop actually said to her, 'You speak English so well, you could almost pass for American!'6 -
^^^^This!PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.
1 -
Sponsored links:
-
I think we are closest to the proud people of the Vatican State. We have a nominal ruler who wears a nice frock surrounded by prettily-dressed soldiers in strange hats marching up and down.6
-
The Prince-e-Paul said:
Don't they have subtitles for our soaps, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street etc? Idiots!Baldybonce said:
I take it you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma, our south east London accent is a complete mystery to themHuskaris said:
I was actually just saying this yesterday. All we seem to have in common with the majority of Americans is language.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.
When my sister visited New York, someone in a coffee shop actually said to her, 'You speak English so well, you could almost pass for American!'</blockquote
In California a few years ago our waitress said "I love your accents. Are you French?"0 -
We have quite a lot in common with Saffers, Aussies and Canadians because, well, an awful lot of them are effectively decended from us. But away from the English speaking nations I'd agree with Leroy, we're a lot like zee Germans, which is why we've never really got along that well.0
-
There's no way that can be true about the subtitles...The Prince-e-Paul said:
Don't they have subtitles for our soaps, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street etc? Idiots!Baldybonce said:
I take it you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma, our south east London accent is a complete mystery to themHuskaris said:
I was actually just saying this yesterday. All we seem to have in common with the majority of Americans is language.PragueAddick said:It strikes me that a large proportion of British people view the USA as the country closest to us in terms of culture and the way things work, because of the shared language and the large amount of US TV and films we consume. Whereas, if you can put aside the language issue, we might quickly feel much more at home with the culture and daily life of countries like...er...Belgium (or the Netherlands or Denmark).
Personally I have never for a nano-second wanted to live in the USA, and am glad I got through my career without having that pushed on me. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy visiting, nor to deny that I have and have had good American friends, here in Prague.
When my sister visited New York, someone in a coffee shop actually said to her, 'You speak English so well, you could almost pass for American!'
0 -
St Louis Missouri - of which Ferguson is a burb - was the first US City I visited some 30 years ago (don't ask!).
There's a large black population - around 50% I think.
All those years ago I was shocked by the way the white and black populations behaved towards each other. The whites showing nothing but contempt for their black neighbours and the blacks just refused to look you in the eye or even speak with you unless it was absolutely necessary.
Rather pessimistically I suspect that things haven't changed that much over the years and I'm not surprised that it's all kicked off there.0 -
Any time I have been to the US I have always felt the undertone of racial tensions. A friend and I were in a club in NYC a few years ago, got chatting to a guy who was black. He told us that there were quite a lot of problems between races. Incidentally he also said that the only white people he chats to are the Brits, said he feels we accept other ethnicities a lot more openly.
Obviously only his viewpoint but it did shock me someone was that open about it to strangers. A few days later I was racially abused going through Harlem which sort of backed up his view.1 -
A report released in June by the American Civil Liberties Union, titled "War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing," documents the flow of armored robots, military-style rifles and tactical vehicles to local police departments.
The program has proved popular with police forces across the country, with local officials saying it saves them money and offers valuable equipment that helps protect police officers.
Through the program, Arizona's Maricopa County has amassed a stockpile of 120 assault rifles, five armored vehicles and 10 helicopters, the ACLU report found. The city of North Little Rock, Arkansas, obtained 34 automatic and semiautomatic rifles, two robots designed for Afghanistan and ground troop helmets.
0 -
What does an armoured robot do??0
-
Armed robots — similar to the ones now on patrol in Iraq — are being marketed to domestic police forces. They can be configured with:
• Multi-shot TASER electronic control device with laser-dot aiming.
• Loudspeaker and audio receiver for negotiations.
• Night vision and thermal cameras.
• Choice of weapons for lethal or less-than-lethal responses
– 40 mm grenade launcher – 2 rounds
– 12-gage shotgun – 5 rounds
– FN303 less-lethal launcher – 15 rounds.1 -
