THE MANDATE IS CONSTITUTIONAL

[Captain Oates 911]

Indeed, I'm from North West England/North Wales so I'm not entirely sure whether that would be easier to understand than your southern English accent. I do the same with southern accent here in Georgia, its so harsh that the accent itself to me overwhelms what they are actually saying.

I just spent 4 years in Washington State and they understood every word ! That's more than my Wisconsinite wife does. I get eh eh eh every day at home.

Although I am from Yorkshire and can speak deep dialect, I spent my career mixing with Finance people in London which resulted in me being definitely northern but with all the guttural stuff removed. My pal from Barnsley says I sound BBC but delboy sounds BBC to him !

I am struggling here in Wisconsin - they do not understand me and look at me as an alien. I never had that in 4 years Washington State although it was east of the cascades and rural and more like Idaho

Anyway, back to the topic

We Brits know how fantastic socialized medicine is whether we are left or right. We all love it

Its our duty to educate our American neighbors as to the real truth of what they are missing

It's far from perfect but its so relaxing to know you aren't going to lose your house and go bankrupt

New heart sir ? 2 million ? no problem we will do it free !

The only way Americans don't die of sheer fear is to put it out of their minds - until it happens and then they are well stuffed and shoot themselves !

[JimandChristy 1,689]

The only way Americans don't die of sheer fear is to put it out of their minds - until it happens and then they are well stuffed and shoot themselves !

Talking of fear, since moving to the states I've never seen in my lifetime any political party use fear as an effective tool to influence people. (Terrorism, nuclear weapons, death panels, armageddon, socialism, communism, nazis, take our guns away all come to mind over the past ten years). Most right wingers I talk to come out with some completely outrageous things and I'm there thinking to myself how paranoid can you get. Their level of paranoia actually scares me; how can they honestly be so out of touch with reality and the rest of the world.

One of my colleagues I work with is a Republican, great character, well educated, smart but as soon as we start talking about politics and religion it's almost like I'm talking to a completely different person. He follows the bible to the page and completely believes Obama is a Muslim who is out to destroy America. There is nothing and I mean nothing that will convince him it is not true.

Edited June 29, 2012 by JimandChristy

[Sgt. McGee 27]

So, to sum up this thread (or this page, anyway), it's a bunch of Brit ex-pats congratulating each other on the fact that we've taken a step towards being the country that they left?

Got it.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Sgt. McGee

[JimandChristy 1,689]

So, to sum up this thread (or this page, anyway), it's a bunch of Brit ex-pats congratulating each other on the fact that we've taken a step towards being the country that they left?

Got it.

Nope it's a bunch of Brit ex-pats congratulating the US for taking a step towards universal healthcare like every other first world country. As a Mr Churchill once said..."Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities."

[rocks 494]

Indeed, I'm from North West England/North Wales so I'm not entirely sure whether that would be easier to understand than your southern English accent. I do the same with southern accent here in Georgia, its so harsh that the accent itself to me overwhelms what they are actually saying.

The country accents took me a while to grasp, sometimes they still throw me off. Have you ever heard a cajun? That might be the strangest American accent!

[rocks 494]

wow you are SO refreshing - all I get is redneck reactionaries on here.

Last year wifey asked if we celebrate thanksgiving. That's like the Falkland islanders celebrating Argentina's national day.

I have a DVD of "Triumph of the wills" - a nazi propaganda film - and the imagery with all the flags is so US. I know the US isn't nazi but the extreme nationalism makes it look that way to a European eye

The British way is that if you think you are the best, you go quiet and put a smug look on your face. The American way is to shout it from the rooftops and claim that god has a mission for you.

I never had anyone look in my passport to sell me a beer, but when my son came over they asked for his passport to sell him a beer. He was an out and out alki in the UK from age 15 and an exotic dancer at 18 and he was 23 - he looked at em like they were crazy.

I have been a US Citizen for a couple of years and I yearn to see it progress morally. I think that makes me an American patriot but many Americans (certainly VJ Americans) think anyone wanting change is a commie and get your snout out incomer.

My personal culture is 100% English and it always will be even though its a car trunk and a hood and I have forgotten the English words

I still can't stop hating the pronunciation MAY-NAY-GER (manager). Its obviously from German and Polish people who learned English from a book. They learned that A is pronounced A. Then they pronounced Manager May-nay-ger because an A is an A

All these years and I still recoil

I started with guns at Ilkley rifle club in 1964 so this place is like Mecca to me. Haven't had chance to kill anyone yet but I live in hope. I leave the door open with my wallet in view but all the bait hasn't worked so far. No point being an American if you cant kill somebody. You know I am being facetious but an American wouldn't and would call 911. They are very literal. No college stuff please - we are American !

Really I would just love to be able to say I love America and I don't think the country is very far away from that point. We Brits never say we love England. Have you every heard anyone say they do ? I haven't. It isn't our way, isn't our culture - but if I couldn't say I 'loved ' America I would be ostracized

Brits love people and dogs and cats and horses - nobody says "I love Britain"

That huge culture gap will always be with me and it does hurt every day though I try to ignore it

But the gasoline is cheap and it doesn't rain as much - what more could a Brit want ?

Thanks, I also find you very refreshing.

It is patriotic of you to care about the future of America. Just because others don't have the same views as you, doesn't make either of you any less patriotic than the other. America is filled with lots of very different people, somehow we manage to get along, sort of.

I have also forgotten many English words for things, my accent is vaguely American but I refuse to pronounce vowels as an American. This seems to confuse a lot of people. The one that gets me is niche. Nitch? Really?

The only person I've ever heard say they LOVE Britain was a very drunk man from Tunisia that wouldn't stop attacking my husband for being American. My husband and I had returned to the UK for a vacation and I wanted to take him to London, we went into a pub to shelter from the cold and this man wouldn't leave us alone. He loved me but kept bringing up wars and stuff, he was preaching to the choir but too drunk to grasp it. He really was the strangest person, perhaps that's why he loved Britain and the Queen so much.

[rocks 494]

Talking of fear, since moving to the states I've never seen in my lifetime any political party use fear as an effective tool to influence people. (Terrorism, nuclear weapons, death panels, armageddon, socialism, communism, nazis, take our guns away all come to mind over the past ten years). Most right wingers I talk to come out with some completely outrageous things and I'm there thinking to myself how paranoid can you get. Their level of paranoia actually scares me; how can they honestly be so out of touch with reality and the rest of the world.

One of my colleagues I work with is a Republican, great character, well educated, smart but as soon as we start talking about politics and religion it's almost like I'm talking to a completely different person. He follows the bible to the page and completely believes Obama is a Muslim who is out to destroy America. There is nothing and I mean nothing that will convince him it is not true.

This seems to be quite common in the south, here in Mississippi it is the same. The problem with getting into those conversations is that you end up hating the person for being so stupid. If I stopped communicating with everyone who was like that I wouldn't have many friends left. I know a nurse that thinks universal healthcare is a bad idea because she has been brainwashed by her superiors that she will get a pay cut if that happens. She thinks everyone has health insurance for $20 a month, which is what she gets from her employer. She's also religious, so the fact that she thinks people should be untreated is really quite perplexing. Many people have tried to get through to her but it just doesn't work. Unfortunately you either avoid the subject or cease communication with them. They will not listen to sense!

[james&olya 1,121]

Never. It can't ever be cheaper now. Once the government is involved it will only get more and more and more expensive every year.

Not like before when health insurance got cheaper most years!

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Yippee

Down with the SPIVS and good health to the people

I drink lots of champagne to the good health of all Americans !

Now stop eating all those cream buns you gluttons !

We were going to return to England for free health care but this means wife can retire early and get health care from a public pool

Down with the people who would profiteer from the misery of others

Read my signature line - nothing ever changes when it comes to the exploitation of pain and misfortune by those grisly fat cats

I represent that comment, I'm not fat, I'm pleasantly plump. Of course the mandate is constitutional, now that same-sex marriage is legal.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

wow you are SO refreshing - all I get is redneck reactionaries on here.

Last year wifey asked if we celebrate thanksgiving. That's like the Falkland islanders celebrating Argentina's national day.

I have a DVD of "Triumph of the wills" - a nazi propaganda film - and the imagery with all the flags is so US. I know the US isn't nazi but the extreme nationalism makes it look that way to a European eye

The British way is that if you think you are the best, you go quiet and put a smug look on your face. The American way is to shout it from the rooftops and claim that god has a mission for you.

I never had anyone look in my passport to sell me a beer, but when my son came over they asked for his passport to sell him a beer. He was an out and out alki in the UK from age 15 and an exotic dancer at 18 and he was 23 - he looked at em like they were crazy.

I have been a US Citizen for a couple of years and I yearn to see it progress morally. I think that makes me an American patriot but many Americans (certainly VJ Americans) think anyone wanting change is a commie and get your snout out incomer.

My personal culture is 100% English and it always will be even though its a car trunk and a hood and I have forgotten the English words

I still can't stop hating the pronunciation MAY-NAY-GER (manager). Its obviously from German and Polish people who learned English from a book. They learned that A is pronounced A. Then they pronounced Manager May-nay-ger because an A is an A

All these years and I still recoil

I started with guns at Ilkley rifle club in 1964 so this place is like Mecca to me. Haven't had chance to kill anyone yet but I live in hope. I leave the door open with my wallet in view but all the bait hasn't worked so far. No point being an American if you cant kill somebody. You know I am being facetious but an American wouldn't and would call 911. They are very literal. No college stuff please - we are American !

Really I would just love to be able to say I love America and I don't think the country is very far away from that point. We Brits never say we love England. Have you every heard anyone say they do ? I haven't. It isn't our way, isn't our culture - but if I couldn't say I 'loved ' America I would be ostracized

Brits love people and dogs and cats and horses - nobody says "I love Britain"

That huge culture gap will always be with me and it does hurt every day though I try to ignore it

But the gasoline is cheap and it doesn't rain as much - what more could a Brit want ?

Corrie re-runs and some Horlick's.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Thanks, I also find you very refreshing.

It is patriotic of you to care about the future of America. Just because others don't have the same views as you, doesn't make either of you any less patriotic than the other. America is filled with lots of very different people, somehow we manage to get along, sort of.

I have also forgotten many English words for things, my accent is vaguely American but I refuse to pronounce vowels as an American. This seems to confuse a lot of people. The one that gets me is niche. Nitch? Really?

The only person I've ever heard say they LOVE Britain was a very drunk man from Tunisia that wouldn't stop attacking my husband for being American. My husband and I had returned to the UK for a vacation and I wanted to take him to London, we went into a pub to shelter from the cold and this man wouldn't leave us alone. He loved me but kept bringing up wars and stuff, he was preaching to the choir but too drunk to grasp it. He really was the strangest person, perhaps that's why he loved Britain and the Queen so much.

That was Prince Philip.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

Talking of fear, since moving to the states I've never seen in my lifetime any political party use fear as an effective tool to influence people. (Terrorism, nuclear weapons, death panels, armageddon, socialism, communism, nazis, take our guns away all come to mind over the past ten years). Most right wingers I talk to come out with some completely outrageous things and I'm there thinking to myself how paranoid can you get. Their level of paranoia actually scares me; how can they honestly be so out of touch with reality and the rest of the world.

One of my colleagues I work with is a Republican, great character, well educated, smart but as soon as we start talking about politics and religion it's almost like I'm talking to a completely different person. He follows the bible to the page and completely believes Obama is a Muslim who is out to destroy America. There is nothing and I mean nothing that will convince him it is not true.

I guess Obama's pilgrimage to Mecca during Hajj didn't help things.

[Teddy B 17,252]

wow you are SO refreshing - all I get is redneck reactionaries on here.

Last year wifey asked if we celebrate thanksgiving. That's like the Falkland islanders celebrating Argentina's national day.

I have a DVD of "Triumph of the wills" - a nazi propaganda film - and the imagery with all the flags is so US. I know the US isn't nazi but the extreme nationalism makes it look that way to a European eye

The British way is that if you think you are the best, you go quiet and put a smug look on your face. The American way is to shout it from the rooftops and claim that god has a mission for you.

I never had anyone look in my passport to sell me a beer, but when my son came over they asked for his passport to sell him a beer. He was an out and out alki in the UK from age 15 and an exotic dancer at 18 and he was 23 - he looked at em like they were crazy.

I have been a US Citizen for a couple of years and I yearn to see it progress morally. I think that makes me an American patriot but many Americans (certainly VJ Americans) think anyone wanting change is a commie and get your snout out incomer.

My personal culture is 100% English and it always will be even though its a car trunk and a hood and I have forgotten the English words

I still can't stop hating the pronunciation MAY-NAY-GER (manager). Its obviously from German and Polish people who learned English from a book. They learned that A is pronounced A. Then they pronounced Manager May-nay-ger because an A is an A

All these years and I still recoil

I started with guns at Ilkley rifle club in 1964 so this place is like Mecca to me. Haven't had chance to kill anyone yet but I live in hope. I leave the door open with my wallet in view but all the bait hasn't worked so far. No point being an American if you cant kill somebody. You know I am being facetious but an American wouldn't and would call 911. They are very literal. No college stuff please - we are American !

Really I would just love to be able to say I love America and I don't think the country is very far away from that point. We Brits never say we love England. Have you every heard anyone say they do ? I haven't. It isn't our way, isn't our culture - but if I couldn't say I 'loved ' America I would be ostracized

Brits love people and dogs and cats and horses - nobody says "I love Britain"

That huge culture gap will always be with me and it does hurt every day though I try to ignore it

But the gasoline is cheap and it doesn't rain as much - what more could a Brit want ?

Certainly if you long for America to be like Brittain, then you must feel sorry that you left your home country, no? If Brittain was/is so much better and so far ahead of America in so many ways, why were you not able to persuade your wife to move to such a beauitiful oasis with you? I have friends that live in Brittain and they don't speak nearly as high about it as you do. They tell me that they are over taxed and the social services are lacking in a very big way. One of my friends who lives in Hull was pushed off for an operation twice, delaying it at least a month each time, because he wasn't considered a priority, he lived in terrible pain for that time and couldn't work.

You sound like a socialist, you dislike America because it is not what YOU want it to be. America is not a socialist country and hopefully never will be. If you liked England so much, why did you leave? It's funny that you relate the Nazi flag to America, and denounce it, when in fact the Nazi flag is the original symbol of socialism, the very thing you say you want America to be.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Teddy B

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I long for America to be like Canada in some ways. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate America for what it is or what it is trying to be. It doesn't mean that Canada's perfect, and it doesn't mean that America's a wasteland. People always react SO defensively when someone asks me if I prefer America to Canada and I say no. I love both countries for very different reasons, but here, if you don't automatically say America's the best place you've ever been and you can't imagine living anywhere else ... then you're just a whiner who should leave, anyway.

It's crazy.

[Teddy B 17,252]

I long for America to be like Canada in some ways. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate America for what it is or what it is trying to be. It doesn't mean that Canada's perfect, and it doesn't mean that America's a wasteland. People always react SO defensively when someone asks me if I prefer America to Canada and I say no. I love both countries for very different reasons, but here, if you don't automatically say America's the best place you've ever been and you can't imagine living anywhere else ... then you're just a whiner who should leave, anyway.

It's crazy.

I would never expect anyone that was born and raised a citizen of another country to think anything other than their country is the best, it's a natural way to feel, it's pride in who you are. What bothers me is when people come here from other countries and try to make America into the country they left. It doesn't work that way and quite frankly that type of attitude is disrspectful and ignorant.

I have learned an often lot about different views and policies since meeting my Canadian wife, and my views have changed quite a bit in the last few years because of it. But I still love what America stands for, take great pride in calling it home, and would never try to change what has made this country, in my opinion, the greatest in history.

By the way, Happy Canada Day!

Edited June 29, 2012 by Teddy B