Differences between countries! the topic´s thread...

[Matt Brown]

14 reasons America isnt great
Random order

14: Wellfare pays more to those who dont work
13: You can die for your country but cant drink until 21
12: The elderly get free money for being old
11: You have to have money to make money
10: You are arrested fo concealing a weapon
9: The government runs the world wide web
8: The rich get better educations
7: Our leader opposes WMD when we currently have hundreds
6: Your arrested for not wearing clothes
5: Law doesnt affect rich (You dont see a pothead celebrity busted for drugs)
4: Huge social class differences
3: Homeless people are mocked
2: Tarrifs on importing medicine
1: its a democracy

14) welfare systems arent unique to America by any means, most westen nations have them. I take it you prob havent worked with poor/unemployed people before...those checks a) dont last forever and b) are squat. its for people who are in between jobs.
13)several US citizens voiced the same complaint, so drinking age was moved to 18. Kids which such stupid gits that the number of teenage DUI's skyrocked. They moved it to 21, so kids could have more driving experience under their belts, before they drank. Teenage DUI's, while high, are much lower then they used to be.
12)Refer to previous post on social secuirty. You wanna work when you're 81 and have artiritis? go for it. Most people cant.
11) uh...welcome to the real world kid. if you're gonna bitch about this, why bitch about welfare? free money to go make some money! This statement isnt also totally true
10) nope. that depends on the state. In Ohio, with a permit, you can carry a conceled weapon. In fact, with a permit, you can in most of America.
9) actually, the internet is one of the most under-regulated parts of our society. Hense, to internet taxes, or goverment stepping in to block piracy. So...you're wrong there too.
8) This is partly true. I dream of a day when we can have higher education reform in our country. this is getting better. If you're smart, you'll find a way into school.
7) No arugement here. Our leader sucks. Course, we're not stupid enough to use them right now, whereas North Korea might be.
6) uh...so? there are nudist areas in America, and a few states have laws where women can go shirtless in public. Still...remember most americans are overweight. you dont want to open this box.
5. Yeah you do. happens all the time. Hell, even Bush's kids got busted for underage.
4) Yup. that happens everywhere tho. I think work is being done with this tho.
3) Thats sometimes true. there are a lot of programs to help the homeless tho
2) I dont really know enough about this
1) actually, I think thats the best part.

Its too bad that this great thread has become an america-bashing thread. Yeah, we have faults...all countries do. Its too bad that our crummy leader has killed american popularity everywhere. i really dont think we're that bad,

Flepe, Brasilian soaps rock my socks. My mom brought some back, and I've watched a few before. Their quite funny, and it helps me with my brasilian language skills a bit
(I'll PM you soon, I just saw you wrote me)

[shbaz]

8) This is partly true. I dream of a day when we can have higher education reform in our country. this is getting better. If you're smart, you'll find a way into school.

There is at least one state that offers free higher education to its citizens.. though I can't remember which one. Lower-cost education is available in the poorer states (such as mine) and any person who would actually be capable of completing college could get enough loans and scholarships to pay through, along with a part time job (keep in mind that not just anyone can complete college, see drop out rates).

[Matt Brown]

Texas offers free admisison to the top 10% of any school's graduating class. I think florida and nevada have similar programs

[Sutebi]

Most schools (colleges, and private school which normally have a much better education than public) are becoing need blind in letting kids in, and all scholarships they give out are need based. So you get into places no matter how much money you have, and then the school and other linked organizations will help you pay for it.

Also, you're point is made cooler by the guy with the sunglasses.

[Kinoko]

Holy hell, I leave this post alone for 24 hours and it turns upside down. What IS all this extremist fighting for? Let's just say that like every country on earth, there are many good points and bad points about the US, and it's language.

Ryukage - you need to cool down. You'll never, ever win an argument like this, and it's just pointless. I must admit, I was quite shocked at your firm stance on English (American-English in particular!) being the best language and I can tell you that this is bullshit. I've had the pleasure of learning at least a bit of many, many languages so far in my short life, and meeting many, many people who are currently learning English from all sorts of countries, and English is honestly one of the most difficult languages to learn. I think that overall, the difficulty of learning a language depends on what your first language is, and your general way of thinking (some people find Japanese to be a complete bitch to learn, whereas I find it the easiest language of them all).  I'm not going to get into a linguistics debate because this thread is supposed to be a relatively friendly discussion about cultural differences. Just try to open your mind to a bit more international reality. It's great that you love your country, I love mine too. I just don't let that get in the way of being able to see Australia's faults, and I don't let myself think that just because something we do is good, it doesn't mean another country's way is bad.

One thing though...

Farmers can eat all the hamburgers and drink all the coke they want and still stay fit and trim.

...and let's not start thinking that 'trim' is any indication of health. No matter how much exercise you do, eating and drinking that stuff all the time is gonna have a big effect on your health. Just just seem healthy right now because they haven't been diagnosed with diabetes or had heart failure yet. I just thought this was way too big of an exagerration.

Getting a bit back on topic... I was wondering with all this news on the Olympics, are there any countries that DON'T get the Olympics shown all over television when it's on? As much as I generally enjoy them, Australia gets bombarded with the Olympics.

[Mr_Frisby]

I live on one of the small mauntains in the surrounds of Mebourne Aus. - I have seen in the ten years living there -

Many possums (noisy roof tap dancing vermin - but cute - tend to get electricuted alot).

Kangaroos - many in the fields and many crossing the roads - I have had the unfortunate pleasure of hitting on (whilst driving my sisters car) and glanceing another - You could be going 10 kph and still not be able to stop in time - they pop out of no where very quickly.

0 platypus

4 koalas in gum trees in my back yard - they are loud and sound like growling pumas (no kidding it's a bit scarey the first time you hear one - possums make a freaky sound too like the soundtrack from a scarey movie ' C-C-C-C-ch-ch-ch-ch '.

1 echidna being chased by a labradore who got spiked  - the echidna was trying to hide under a stump - I got to pet it and it was kinda cool (the echidna not the labradore).

That is all. 'cept . .


Austalian animals are noisy and over-rated. Kangaroo meat is tuff and Emu tastes like a light form of beef.

That is all.

[shbaz]

The Olympics are always on here too. I think it's likely to be that way in every country, so long as they care about whether or not they win. With the Olympics, it's a matter of national pride, so it is probably most often the case.

[Kinoko]

Oh, possum noises are SO scary when you hear them for the first time! I remember one night I was asleep upstairs (we have a computer downstairs), I wake up and I hear this "Ch ch ch chch ch" sound that sounded EXACTLY ... E X A C T L Y like keyboard typing from downstairs. I just lay there with no doubt in my mind that downstairs there was a ghost typing on the keyboard and it knew I could hear it, and was waiting for me to come downstairs and die of fright. I woke up my boyfriend and it stopped (as always) which only freaked me out even more. Eventually, he told me it was a possum and I guess I must have believed him in the end. Still, as funny as it is now, it was so scary at the time ^_^

I had a similar experience when I woke up in the middle of the night and a possum (which typically run around in our walls and ceiling) was snoring. It was so much like a deep, human snore. I'm very used to them now and they're almost comforting to hear scurrying around.

Like you said, they have a bad habit of getting electrocuted In my area, it's bats more than anything. It's hard to wander around the area without seeing at least one dead bat hanging from the power lines.

[shbaz]

Are your power lines not insulated? Birds and all kinds of other animals sit on them here.. without the ground wire there is no danger.

[Kinoko]

As I understand it, birds are fine because their legs are insulated but bats are a different story. I'm not sure exactly how it works but I think it's because they hold on to two wires at once. (The same goes for possums too, they usually climb along one wire but if they try to move to another, they get electrocuted).

I think...

[shbaz]

The way birds get away with it is like this.. There are two lines in an AC circuit, and then the ground for disposing of voltage. You cannot be electrocuted by touching any one of those wires alone, any two together will electrocute you. Most power lines insulate one of the AC wires and the other is wrapped around it, and the ground is derived at each location where electricity is needed by sticking a giant rod into the earth. So the thing is, the only way for them to complete the circuit on top of the line would be to connect the two wires, which isn't going to happen because one is always insulated thus the circuit cannot be completed. No animal would survive the massive voltage. Humans wear multiple layers of extremely thick gloves to handle such wires.

Electrocution of animals usually happens at a junction point, where there are exposed wires in close enough proximity to get them. I still don't understand how a bat would suffer there though.. a Possum could easily do so.

[panda forgot to log in]

Also, you're point is made cooler by the guy with the sunglasses.

offtopic

that guy with teh sunglasses is an older picture of me

/offtopic

[Las Naranjas]

We have plenty of bats down here, but rarely have I heard of one being electrocuted.

Rarely, but it has happened.

Queensland is a crazy backwards place though, so, after overcoming the initial surprise that they have electricity, they may not have learnt the art of insulation that the cockroaches have.

[Blackthorne]

LostTraveler,

  I get what you're saying, about all the atrocities about America, but you must remember, for all the horrid things, there have been equal amounts of wonderful things.  No country is perfect, we can only hope to try and achieve a decent balance of the black and white.

Bt

[Kinoko]

Hey, look All I know is that there are a lot of fried bats here hanging from wires.

It's kind of strange that NSW is referred to as the cockroach state when we seem to have so many in QLD. I've never seen a cane toad either @_@

[Moox]

14) welfare systems arent unique to America by any means, most westen nations have them. I take it you prob havent worked with poor/unemployed people before...those checks a) dont last forever and b) are squat. its for people who are in between jobs.

My brothers best friend is poor. His dad doesnt pay childsupport, his mom works 2 shifts at burgerking
The checks last as long as you need them. Wellfare is the lifeline for that family.

13)several US citizens voiced the same complaint, so drinking age was moved to 18. Kids which such stupid gits that the number of teenage DUI's skyrocked. They moved it to 21, so kids could have more driving experience under their belts, before they drank. Teenage DUI's, while high, are much lower then they used to be.

Driving shouldnt interfere with the drinking age. The rest of the world doesnt have a drinking age that high, in italy the kids drink wine every day.

12)Refer to previous post on social secuirty. You wanna work when you're 81 and have artiritis? go for it. Most people cant.

You should save money

11) uh...welcome to the real world kid. if you're gonna bitch about this, why bitch about welfare? free money to go make some money! This statement isnt also totally true

The entire system keeps the poor poor now, most poor people have a bad education and cant get a wellpaying job.

10) nope. that depends on the state. In Ohio, with a permit, you can carry a conceled weapon. In fact, with a permit, you can in most of America.

You need a permit for something that can save your life

9) actually, the internet is one of the most under-regulated parts of our society. Hense, to internet taxes, or goverment stepping in to block piracy. So...you're wrong there too.

You can be arrested for hacking, spamming, looking at porn, shopping at certain websites. The government shouldnt regulate something that is everyones

8) This is partly true. I dream of a day when we can have higher education reform in our country. this is getting better. If you're smart, you'll find a way into school.

agreed

7) No arugement here. Our leader sucks. Course, we're not stupid enough to use them right now, whereas North Korea might be.

I wish they would

6) uh...so? there are nudist areas in America, and a few states have laws where women can go shirtless in public. Still...remember most americans are overweight. you dont want to open this box.

Public indescency laws. Clothes where invented to keep you warm, they shouldnt be mandatory tho

5. Yeah you do. happens all the time. Hell, even Bush's kids got busted for underage.

I was flipping through channels and Snoop Dog was smoking pot on mtv, Jack osbourne had coke on his shirt on mtv aswell.

4) Yup. that happens everywhere tho. I think work is being done with this tho.

Not enough is being done. We have people with $0.00 and people with $16,000,000,000

3) Thats sometimes true. there are a lot of programs to help the homeless tho

We have billions in surplus, why not give them low budget housing if they get jobs?

2) I dont really know enough about this

Canada has cheaper medicine

1) actually, I think thats the best part.

W00t we can pick the dictator for four years!'

Lets end the debate


Marykate Olsen just admitted to having an eating dissorder, just another example of how american women are obsessed with their weight, is it like this throughout the world?

[shbaz]

Ending that debate is a good idea, because with arguments like those you're not going to get far.

[Panda should log in]

last time Im responding, but I cant resist.

point 1) if you work at burgerking, I dont think you're still allowed to earn welfare checks. this is an entire arugement in itself...I find it weird that when you whine about how wealth needs to be redistruibed, then you whine about a public assistence program like welfare. you want to hate one of the other, thats fine, honorible people do...but both?

2) Yes, but drinking in those cultures are different. driving has everything to do with drinking age, as (right now), a drinking age of 18 would be a public health risk. A lot of those european nations dont let people drive until they are 18. by then, they are used to booze, and DUIs arent as much of a problem.

3) Yes, and if you dont, you still wont be able to live. SS checks simply arent much. I would agree that those who are multimilionaries prob shouldnt be taking SS checks, but a lot of people need them. Again, for somebody who wants more communism in America, (as taken from a previous point), why do you oppose state social policty? you sound like a republican.

4) to a point. there are avenues for poor people to enroll in a community college, or get some type of vocational skills. or work in constrction. is the system perfect? no. but its not so much worse in the states then it is anywhere else.

5) waahhh waaaaaah! take a 4 hour class to learn how to shoot a gun. whats the freakin deal. it keeps wackos from packing heat in their sock. Buddy, I live in the hickish midwest. there are certain people who SHOULD NOT be paking a gun. If you're that worried about getting mugged, carry a stun gun or mace. you dont need a permit, and it does the same thing.

6) Ok. Hacking is Vandalism or Theft. both are crimes no? Doesnt matter that they are done with a computer. the only porn you arent allowed to look at is child porn and snuff porn. Thats illigal in print too. Nothing to do with comptuers. Spamming illigal? so is telemarketing without a licence. The internet has nothing to do with it. Those acts are crimes anywhere else.

7) --
8) wait wait wait. are you suggestiing that North Korea Nuke America? are you fucking out of your mind?

9) you dont want manitory clothes? live in a nudist beach. Im sorry...but I dont want to see 300 pound guys with their penises waving about. thats gross. I dont think too many sane people past puberty agree with you here
10) it isnt illigal to have coke on your shirt. (wait. are we talking about an actual drug on the shirt, or a coke phrase?). Osbone and Snoop have been in trouble with the law before about drugs. Not like it matters. If Snoop is speeding, and he's on weed, he's gonna be busted
11) I think Massive Wealth redistribution worked very well for soviet russia. not. If you're so in favor of giving the poor money, why are you complaining about ss and welfare? think food stamps suck too?
12) uh, who'se economy are you looking at? If we're both looking at America, you have the words Surplus mixed up with the word defict. as in in record defict. As in, spending a lot more then we make. Where's the $$ gonna come from? Local goverments in big cities provide low cost housing. the federal gov doesnt have the dough right now
13) Canada was cheaper meds because their med system is nationalized. If there were tarrifs, people wouldnt but the drugs from canada, cause america would mark them up. Maybe this would be a good idea, maybe it wouldnt be.
14) Dictator for 4 years? what a cynical and ignorant thought. I dont think you quite understand what a dictator means

if you want to fight more, Im game. We can make another thread debating capitalism and your weirdo system.

[panda will log in soon]

On a more ontopic note, those people who live in more social democracys (like demark and norway)

what is your tax rate
what services does your gov provide
do you like working/living in that system

[Moox]

Im anti SS but For a reformed wellfare policy.