>>45016873
When you ask for water, it's free.
That was the biggest culture shock for me going to Scotland. I asked for water and got charged for it.

>>45016873
Just cover all the food in cheese and dip it in ketchup, and make sure every NPC has at least three guns

I'm not even an American and I know that there is a massive cultural difference between states let alone different countries. The cultural difference between Maine and California are so huge they may as well be different countries. The only thing that links them is the currency and McDonalds.

>>45016901
That's just Scots having a keen eye for a tourist mark.

>>45016873
Amerikkans are evil racist nazis who will shoot you

>>45016873
The US is made up of 50 smaller countries, all with unique culture and views. To sum it up would be like summing up Western Europe and saying, "Bah, it's all the same"

>>45016973
>between states
Hell, the cultural difference is pretty clear from city to city. In big cities like New York there are huge cultural differences from fucking neighborhood to neighborhood.

America is pretty big and not at all homogeneous.
I wouldn't try to sum up the entirety of Europe in a simple statement and I wouldn't try to sum up either of the two giant countries in North America (Maybe the middling sized one, but who cares about Mexico, really?) that are almost the same size as the entirety of Europe in a simple statement.

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>>45016973
>That's just Scots having a keen eye for a tourist mark.

>>45016901
At a restaurant?!
was it Edinburgh?

>>45017042
There are more people in California than Canada

>>45017027
Having never been to New York, I am also led to believe that there is a big socio/economic/cultural divide between the Big Apple and the rural areas. The City being mostly democrat voting, and quickly going to redneckery and social conservatism just half an hour out the city.v

>>45017080
Geographical size makes summing up Canada pointless, not population numbers.

Something both attractive and off-putting about Fiasco is how most of the playsets are based heavily on Americana.

Of course, that's to match the films the game is based on (even if there are some exceptions like the London Gangster one, perfect for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels games).

I wish I had enough US experience to play or run some kind of game set there. Maybe I'll invent some whimsical fantasy version of America based on what I've learned from films. It would be this weird hodgepodge of diners serving fancy milkshakes by "gee mister!" spouting teens, motel rooms that all have a dark past, and a mix of both highly-organized and unorganized, spontaneous crime.

>>45017072
Yes, was there visiting our Scottish cousins for a family reunion (my Grandparents were celebrating their 50th marriage anniversary around the same time as my grandmother's cousins in Scotland, so we made it a big reunion.)

>>45017095
I want to say the provinces are a decent way, but even then

>>45016901
If you just ask for water, they'll probably give you bottled water, which costs.

If you specifically ask for tap water, I'm pretty sure they have to provide it for free. I don't usually like tap water but Scotland's is good.

There's a pretty broad variety of cultures similar to Europe, we just all speak (mostly) the same language. There are many immigrant communities in various degrees of integration with the rest of the population. Ethnic enclaves in major cities are pretty common.

The three largest countries are New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Like the rest of the world, the cities are generally more liberal where rural areas are more conservative. The west coast is generally more liberal than the east coast. In the major coastal cities, there's kind of a semi-joking attitude that the rest of the country is "flyover country" - nobody lives there and it's not important.

>>45017157
I'm pretty sure I got tap water, but it's been a few years now, and it wasn't something I cared enough about at the time to really remember beyond the fact I shelled out a bit of money.

>>45016873
Americans think living among blacks is fine, and then when they start fucking shit up everyone acts suprised.

>>45016873
MAIN cultural difference is that the better half of us don't bend over and beg for a police state.

>tv license
laughable here
>18+ to buy a damn butter knife
your country is a bad meme
>CCTV everywhere
this would last maybe a week in the US before somebody shot them all down or the SCOTUS declared them unlawful
>Virtually no gun rights
We're about ready to go civil war 2.0 over here because the president wanted to make a gun registry. He didn't even try to ban anything. You guys sound like scared children when you try to talk about civil liberties. I'm surprised you haven't passed some act or bill that allows the police to sleep on your couch and raid your fridge in the morning.

>>45017244
Probably just taking advantage of a tourist then. They do that all over the world.

This whole thread is just /pol/ bait, please stop

>>45017211

I think the differences are subtle but important.

The Guardian did this neat blog about differences in British and American language. Not stuff like colour/color or crisps/chips, but the social differences.

I wish I could find it again. There was one about asking someone to join you for coffee, which in Britain means going to grab a coffee together, have a natter, etc. but (allegedly) in America it's more likely to mean a serious talk? Like asking someone on a date, or your supervisor tells you you're not pulling your weight, etc.

There's also this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E837tnxRVS0

>>45017285
>23 posts
>not one of which is politics based whining
>except your post

Come on, kid. Not everything is due to the boogieman. Sometimes people want to discuss real world culture and politics because it allows for verisimilitude.

>>45016873
the sense of self is to the single most defining aspect of Americans, myself included, as a whole, nearly every single thing we do is for ourselves or our direct family.

>>45017270
We also don't outfit our police with siege gear or allow them to turn our cities into battlefields. It's pretty nice.

>>45017259
Just interchange blacks with towel heads and you basically have Europe, though.

Same problem, different skin shade.

>>45017089

Upstate New York tends to be upper middle class to fucking ridiculously rich

>>45017386
I read an interesting article in Time a few years back that was about how, unlike Europe, American assassins rarely kill for some political or ideological purpose rather because they're crazy or for a selfish purpose.

Like the guy who shot Garfield because he didn't get a government posting.

>>45017270
>america
>not a police state

Haha! I bet you're glad you don't have dark skin, or a non-Abrahamic religion though.
For real though, urban Americans, particularly black Americans have a very different idea about what entails a police state. I guess it's different if racial profiling and social influences means you are more likely to experience negative police interactions.

>>45017389
How'd that work out for Paris?

>>45017326

Asking a woman out to coffee is asking her for a pretty casual date, asking a coworker or a friend to coffee means exactly what you think

Welcome to the American Southeast! Here, it's hot 11.5 months out of the year. The humidity never drops below 90% and the mosquitoes can carry off an alligator. The people are friendly and progressive 6 days out of the week, but the government is retarded and holds everything back 40 years. College Football and Food are just as big as Jesus, if not bigger. We're all fat, not because we're lazy (we actually work longer hours at more physical labor intensive jobs than anywhere else), but because the food is so fucking good we can't stop shoving it in our faces. We can't drive for shit, and if you need something in a hurry, you should make peace with the fact that you're not gonna get it. There's a ton of black people and a significant hispanic population too. Everything is named after native american tribes and words, so be prepared to be laughed at when you can't pronounce anything. You're gonna need a vehicle to get anywhere, since everything is so spread out. Any other questions?

>>45017487
How does your militarised police work out for your quite shocking rate of mass shootings?

Some stereotypes I've heard other nationalities say of Americans:

>Americans talk very loud, even in public places where it's not appropriate (almost anywhere)
>American small talk is just meaningless words to fill the silence (Germany, where "how are you?" is a question of genuine concern. Also probably true in the Nordic countries)
>Americans are very optimistic people (It surprised me to learn this is a fairly common sentiment. But I guess I understand it.)
>Americans are generous (This perception is probably because of foreign aid we give. We like to get good and riled up about helping some poor foreigners before the media distracts us with the next shiny thing.)
>Americans are hardworking (I have a feeling this has less to do with integrity and more to do with our ridiculous work schedules)
>Americans are weird about guns (Yep. Can't argue that. "It's complicated" doesn't even begin to describe it.)
>Americans are ignorant about the rest of the world (Absolutely agree. I blame our education and media. Violence abroad? Five-minute blurb. It snowed in NYC? FUCKING NATIONAL NEWS, STOP THE PRESSES.)
>Americans are racist (Again, it's complicated. There's a shitload of history to unpack. Even now you can see the impact that slavery and the Civil War left on the southern US - they're still poorer than the rest of the country.)

>>45017523
>tfw living the high life on a plantation
>The War of Northern Aggression comes along
>lose plantation
>go bankrupt
>Suffer to work back to the middle class
Not that I never knew that suffering. Also apparently my ancestor was so well respected amongst the Freemasons that after he declared bankruptcy, they asked for state-wide donations from other Freemasons and bought him a new house. So I don't think we struggled that hard to get back to the middle class either.
something something damn yankees!

>>45017523
I'm not american, but I can say that some stereotypes about you guys aren't that clear cut. Nobody think you are racist as a nation, or ignorant as a nation, but we think that you are weird as shit about race and education/culture/world outlook.

>>45017515
Pretty well actually. While the frequency is relatively high compared to the average civilized nation (keep in mind that we're essentially comparing our fifty states to just France), the overwhelming majority of shootings are blacks shooting other blacks in the confines of their ghettos. So much so that it rarely makes even local news. There is a rather stark difference between that and a coordinated series of shootings and bombings occurring in across our capital.

>>45016901
You also don't have to pay to use the toilet.

>>45017660
Never was asked to.

>>45017642
You are comparing your bi-weelky mass shootings to a terrorist attack. It's like talking about 9/11.

>>45017492

Course oddly enough there is a weird curve for how serious coffee is.

Asking a stranger out to coffee? Probably a date or some sort of "casual" meeting for work.

Asking a friend out to coffee? You're getting coffee.

Specifically asking your significant other out to coffee? It's fucking huge. Otherwise you wouldn't have to ask to go out to coffee.

>>45016901
What the fuck is this meme ?

>>45017731
No memes
I just apparently got scammed.

>>45017635
I'm genuinely curious to hear stereotypes (positive and negative), travel tips, and things of that nature that other countries have about the US.

>>45017731
I don't think it was a meme, the dude's said he was in Edinburgh

100 years in America is a long time. 100 miles in Europe is a long way.

>>45017678
Must be a German thing then.

>>45017660
You do in some places, especially if there's lots of homeless people in the area. "Restroom for paying customers only" is a common sign

>>45017613

My great-great-etc up my father's lineage purchased the election as county Sheriff in lovely Bacchus County, WV for the princely sum of $3000. Not bad for unwashed drunken Paddy hillfolk.

>>45017523
>poorer than the rest of the country
Which is why everyone is running down here en masse? At least where I live, completely unaffected by either recession and constantly dealing with influx of people from other parts of the nation.

>>45016873
In USA if your feelings are hurt by something that's your own damn problem.

Also you can own guns, because the government is required to fear its people, so that the government doesn't abuse its people's power. Consent of the governed is an important concept, and it is backed by the governed being able to fuck your shit up.

Also, I notice EUs have a HUGE submission to authority complex, where a EU assumes that if he got punished, it's because he did something wrong. Not because the punisher is an asshole.

>>45017763
Well, travel 100 miles in any direction in Europe and you end up in a place with a different architecture, gastronomy and culture than the one you hail from. Even within one country.

>>45017763
There's people in the US who commute 100 miles to work each day. They're considered crazy there too though.

>>45017523
Speaking of American assassins and the South still being fucked up, John Wilkes Booth was the worst thing to happen to the South since early onset diabetes. Lincoln actually had a solid reconstruction plan ready to be set up. The people who took over after his death were much more vindictive.

>>45017800
There's a slight difference between that and having a guy sitting at the bathroom entrance charging 50 euro cents a person or, as some places do, have a machine that does it.

Lack of insane, toxic irony honestly.
Our ironic faggots are contained to our cities mostly, not like europe where it felt like everyone was drowning in irony and post-irony.

>>45017849
>In USA if your feelings are hurt by something that's your own damn problem.
That's why people get fired for hurting people's feelings there ? I said it before, you guys are weird as shit.

>>45017760
Measuring distances by driving time is a pretty US-specific thing

>>45017760
New Zealander here.
Americans are assumed to be ignorant, close-minded boors. Big eaters, big spenders with small minds.
Your self-assurance is quite grating to the average New Zealander, who tends towards a black sense of humour and a knowledge that nothing good lasts forever. Interacting with people who are extremely confident, and to our minds who are so without reason, can be most annoying to us.
Americans seem to love the NZ accent, but have trouble parsing our speech, despite the fact the average New Zealander speaks better English than the English do. I banged a bunch of American women because they liked my accent and my stoic nature seemed to make them want to impress me.
You are thought to be wealthy, friendly to a fault but not willing to integrate properly. Your money is good for us.

Just so you know, I tend to like Americans, perhaps despite myself. I have seen very little of the ignorant small minded American in my experience. Not to say that doesn't exist, but I have rarely come across it.

>>45017850
Literally the same in the US.
100 miles in Texas can take you from a desert, to a swamp, to a plain, to shoal beach country. Depending on the season, north texas can even be a frozen wasteland.

>>45017894
That's actually got the same root problem as the crazy work schedules most Americans are stuck with. There's a corporate culture of "You represent your place of work at all times" and if you act like a chungus, many companies will treat you as if you did it on the clock, even if it was in your spare time.

>>45017906
>>45017917
I know /pol/ is gonna storm in here and shit this up, but I appreciate these insights. I ain't even mad, I know they're stereotypes.

WAIT I MEAN I LOVE AMERICA AND TAKE DEEP PERSONAL OFFENSE TO EVERYTHING BAD YOU SAID

>>45017849
>Also, I notice EUs have a HUGE submission to authority complex, where a EU assumes that if he got punished, it's because he did something wrong. Not because the punisher is an asshole.
You couldn't show your "ignorant american" act more, gg.

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>>45017865
>Shot Lincoln believing he'd be a Hero
>Survived long enough to see the South almost unanimously call him out as an asshole
>Burned alive in a barn

Not sure what point in trying to make, but America would almost certainly have been better off without Booth.

>>45017515
>militarised police
Dude, Police here go corrupt because they get underfunded and start either going crazy from thier inability to due things in budget or bend over for someone to pay them to ignore stuff.

Oddly enough though, the only place where this seems to be a major problem are urban centers, where they should be able to get said funding but don't

>>45017760
The general stuff about being fat, gun-obsessed, and racist.

But when it comes to specific Americans people have met or places they went on holiday, "laid-back" is an adjective that comes up a lot.

I have to agree from Americans I've spoken to and the few times I've been to the US. Strangers will say, "Hey, I like your shirt."

They're not old and senile, they're not crazy people, they're not going to ask you for money, they're just being polite and making small talk. These things do happen in Europe, but it's a bit more standoffish and you expect some kind of agenda (particularly in England and Germany).

>>45017970
>le epic /pol/ bogeyman

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>>45016873

>>45017917
>Just so you know, I tend to like Americans, perhaps despite myself. I have seen very little of the ignorant small minded American in my experience. Not to say that doesn't exist, but I have rarely come across it.

They exist in large numbers, but they usually only travel within the Country if at all. And even if they do travel internationally it's to some corporate run resort that's designed to look as American as possible

>>45017917
My experience in Hong Kong, Tokyo, rural japan, a few latin countries and some european countries have shown me a few things about how women typically think of americans.

Particularly, Asian women said they like how much work americans would put into relationships. There was more sincerity according to them. (This lead to a lot of discussions, especially with Japanese men, that while they liked the general attitude of american men, not the weebs though, they absolutely hated american women. Harpy was used a lot)

The general attitude I've seen about americans from people who dealt with them a lot was that we're boisterous, stubborn but happy.

>>45017906
That's an interesting one.

Something like this came up in an RPG recently, when the GM described a town as "three days away" rather than an actual distance.

I get what that meant in game terms, but I couldn't conceptualize it very well. If someone in a game says "It's about twenty miles away" you can think about it and realize that's a day's walk, but I'm not used to doing it the opposite way around.

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>>45017505
>Florida

>>45017906
In Europe, (at least it seems to me that) everything has been built up. Cities are close together, there's layers upon layers of human history, and you're never very far away from something completely different.

In America, we started to build up the east coast, then decided it was our god-given right to expand (we called it Manifest Destiny) westward. Things are a little bit more built up and close together in the eastern part of the country, but out west it takes fucking aaaaaaages to get anywhere (I grew up in Colorado and we drove to my Grandma's house in Texas every year for the holidays... for 12 hours straight. And let me tell you, once you get south of Denver (Or Castle Rock if you're being generous), there is fucking NOTHING to look at. HUGE amounts of the west are empty. Something like 80% of Nevada's total area is Federal land like national parks and military bases with nobody living on it.

>>45017970
Yeah, it does kind of suck that it's nigh impossible to discuss different countries on 4chan without /pol/ishness making the whole thing a shitshow

>>45017760
Well, the biggest travel tip in the US that's given here is that you need a car at all times. Also you gotta be careful while walking in the countryside because you can be in someone's property and they can shoot you.

Americans I've met were pretty laid back and open (and in one case, cute, sporty and cultured), but I guess that to travel abroad (or spend a year as an exchange student) you got to be more open than the average.

Also you are confused by the kissing on the cheek. But all foreigners except italians are.

>>45016873
In the USA, you can shoot up a classroom or a movie theater, and as long as you just say it was self-defense, the judge has no choice but to let you go, because it's your word against a pile of corpses.
No one can prove those children WEREN'T going to harm you at some unspecified time in the future.

>>45017505
Fuck, South Carolina here and will confirm this is entirely accurate. At least on the coast/ major cities. For the love of Baby Jesus stick to those parts though. All the rural parts are where the redneck stereotypes are, and you absolutely will get pulled by a cop waiting on whatever sucker missed where the highway goes from 55 to 35 over a hundred yard stretch before hitting some decaying podunk.

>>45018081
>Driving through Nevada
>"Next Services 400 miles"
>See less than 3 cars that entire stretch

Yeah, the Western US is weird with distances. Unless you're near a city, the ocean, or in the southern third of California you may as well be on the Moon

>>45018135
epic

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>>45016873
The most insane tabloid headline of the month in Europe is happening five times a day in Florida.

>>45017326

In my experience, a coffee is just that.

I wouldn't really read the Guardian for its incisive coverage of American culture.

>>45018140
>55
This is something I've never understood - you've got a fuckhuge country, most of your roads are famously straight and wide, how the fuck is your speed limit 55mph?

>>45017970
>>45018043
>>45018063
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention.
Americans are assumed to be unable to hold their drink. We in New Zealand are a nation of drinkers. Teetotallers are very rare indeed, and we drink at every opportunity. We're like Australians in that regard with less Christian influenced morality and cheaper beer.
I've met some Americans who can sink the drink like nobody else I've ever seen before, but it seems that many people can't hold their liquor.
One American I know invited me for a beer, so I catch him at the pub, we finish our beers and I ask if he wants me to get the next round.
>No, I'll finish here. I'm going home, I wouldn't want to get drunk.
Well what were we drinking beers for, then? Where I come from
>want to get a beer
means
>want to enter into a binge drinking competition that is liable to cause injury or property damage

Americans also have a reputation for religion, and strange religion at that. New Zealand is one of the most secular nations on earth, and we kinda treat religion as a background thing. Some of us go to church at Easter and Christmas but you won't hear of anyone going to church on a Sunday. Maybe because we're nursing our hangovers from Saturday night.

I'm intimidated and terrified of travelling to Europe. I have been raised to believe Europeans despise Americans. Television and Internet sources have done nothing to ameliorate this.

Help?

>>45018172
Florida Man is the hero Florida deserves. Florida Woman close second.

>>45018200
In many places its 75

>>45017211
>The west coast is generally more liberal than the east coast.

While I've never been over to the West coast to know how true this is, I will say that the Northeast (New England) region is pretty liberal while the South tends to be historically conservative. Of course, it still tends to be affected by the rural/urban split as I'm up in Pennsylvania and you can see some Confederate flags draped around out here in the countryside.

>>45018200
It used to be higher, but then some lawmakers got scared that people might be having fun or something and lowered it in a lot of places.

>>45017906
Measuring distance by driving is very normal in all places where there is extended driving segments because things are far apart.
You don't use it inside of cities, but if you are driving from a town to another town, its useful as fuck.
Or telling where you live, and "where is that" you go like "X hours from that place, and Y from the other place".

>>45018200
Largely because more people die in America from car accidents than the gun violence we're famous for. It's actually an enormous difference - statistically speaking you are far more likely to die in traffic than from being shot in the United States.

>>45018222
dude just say you're Canadian. Very strong disguise that the average European is weak to.

I was always taught if you hear a North American accent, ask if the speaker is Canadian.
Canadians love it because nobody ever thinks they're Canadian, and Americans think it's funny because who could be dumb enough to mistake an AMERICAN.

>>45018222
Ask politely in the local tongue if one speaks english before actually speaking english. If you are making efforts, it's appreciated.

Also avoid Paris. Parisians despise everyone, even themselves.

>>45017505
>Everything is named after native american tribes and words, so be prepared to be laughed at when you can't pronounce anything.
This is true in many regions of the US. I've lived in Seattle (with names like Snoqualmie, Issaquah, Suquamish, Snohomish, etc.) and the Twin Cities (Minnetonka, Milwaukee, Mahtomedi, Chequamegon, etc.). Also very true in New Yorkish area (the state, not necessarily the city).

>>45018081
>>45018152
That's why I'm moving to Wyoming. I love Maryland but it's too fucking crowded

>>45018200
In some parts there is no speed limits. I've lived in Texas and Alaska and there are parts that have no posted speed limit but obviously you got to watchout for wildlife

>>45018260
That's true pretty much everywhere though, through pure numbers. Especially in the US, where everyone drives

>>45017505
>but because the food is so fucking good we can't stop shoving it in our faces

I swear, fancy food has nothing on American junk food.

Give me deep-fried chicken and barbecue ribs any day of the week.

>>45018247
The west coast is only liberal right along the coast itself. You get out in the eastern part of those states and it gets really redneck, really quickly. Especially in the Pacific Northwest.

>>45018335
>Give me deep-fried chicken and barbecue ribs any day of the week.
Fuck that, give me a raclette and we are set.

>>45017505
Fucking NoVA. It's hot as hell in Summer and we get three feet of snow in January.

Fewer Muslims.

>>45018247
Having lived in CO, WA, and MN, I'd say in general the rural areas of the west tend to be more baseline liberal than rural areas in the east.

ALSO, something I just remembered from government class: the US has weird political terms while the rest of the world uses a different system (go figure, it's not like we don't use metric or something, right).

Our main liberal party (which I think worldwide would be considered pretty centrist) is called the Democratic party and usually uses the color blue. Our main conservative party (whose place on the worldwide spectrum I couldn't begin to guess) is called the Republican party and usually uses red.

>>45018335
You won't find good bread in the US though unless you bake it yourself or find a specialty bakery. The stuff you get at the grocery is basically cake

>>45018369
Faggot

>>45018369
I guess the downside of American junk food is that good cheeses don't seem to be a thing.

Although the goopy plasticky fake cheese is a guilty pleasure of mine, it's just not something I could eat often.

>>45018410

American Liberals are conservatives to Europeans.
American Conservatives are fascists to Europeans.

>>45018428
You guys must have wholegrain bread, right?

>>45018442
The US has some of the best cheese makers in the world. The thing about being such a huge country is that we have one of the best of everything so where in our borders. You just gotta look.

>inb4 some loser tries to tell me French wine is better than California wine

>>45017060
whew son, that gif is older than Jesus. Where'd you dig it up?

>>45018442
The goopy plastic fake cheese is the biggest misconception about American food.
"American cheese" is literally just Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blended together into a single product. "American flavored cheese product" is (barely) edible plastic made with a few cheese curds so they can legally say it's a cheese product.

>>45018442
You can find good cheese, just avoid the processed stuff by Kraft or whoever. I may be a little biased since I live near Wisconsin but finding decent cheese isn't difficult if you take the time to look.

Our wine however seems to either be equal to European wine or drain cleaner. There's no middle ground and there's a lot of hippies trying to do things with wine that would give the French an aneurysm if they knew about it.

>>45018453
What are american facists to europeans?

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>>45018410
>>45018453
Let's just stop this line of conversation right now

>>45018477
Yeah, every grocery store has it. Even shitty corner markets in cities

>>45018001
That, and they're dealing with a never-ending fallujah syndrome issue. They're seen as outsiders coming into a community where the bad guys they're supposed to catch look exactly the same as the good guys they're supposed to be protecting.

After a while the paranoia of not being able to reliable tell friend from foe is bound to wear you down and make you crazy. At least an infantryman in Iraq gets to come home with PTSD in a few years. Police officers are pretty much stuck for life.

>>45018410
In Europe, when someone calls himself a liberal, he means classical liberal, usually a centrist. The Democratic Party is social-liberal by european standards. It's pretty analogous to most centre-left parties of western Europe. The mainstream of the US Republican party is comparable to any mainstream conservative party in Europe, except the German one.

The far-right in europe tends to be more socialist economically speaking that the far right in the US tho.

>>45018228
>Ran a superheroes game
>Florida Man was one of the super villains
>He wasn't beatable and more of an elemental force of pure chaos
>All we could do was survive and rebuild after he wandered off or just vanished
>Much like a hurricane

>>45018453
>conservatives are fascists
But I'm a conservative and I have no desire to control anyone or anything.

Protip about American politics:
America does not have a voting system like many European nations where there's room for multiple parties to represent a bunch of different views.

In America there are two well-established and extremely entrenched parties who've long abandoned any pretense of representation. Regardless of your political affiliation or your true political motives, you are always stuck with D or R. Which convinces a lot of the world everyone in the United States is a D or an R, when the reality is there are no other choices.

There's just as much political diversity here as anywhere else, we just don't have a system that allows it to be expressed.

>>45017270
On the plus side, if my neighbour is being an annoying asshole, I can go tell him in his face that he's an annoying asshole without being afraid he might just decide to ventilate me. Also, even if I get robbed, there's a better than decent chance I won't get shot in the deal because the robbers are unlikely to own guns, which is nice.

>>45018502
>implying you know shit about french wine except some overmarketed Bordeaux or Loire
I swear I never had any new world wine that wasn't full of Tannin

>>45018453
Fascist wouldn't be the right word (at least not for all of them). They are pretty far right compared to what you'd generally see over in Europe.

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>>45018453
>American Conservatives are fascists to Europeans
If Europeans consider cuckservatives fascist I shudder to think of what they consider liberal.

>>45018646
Don't get your worldviews from shitpost. Your conservatives are pretty mild.

>>45018552
Demons the Nazis tried to summon to help them win WWII before being stopped by BJ Blazkowitz.

>>45018200
My apologies, the US has an "Interstate" system that has a 70mph limit that was built post WWII and is always at least 4 lanes, and an older "Highway" system that sprung up more organically from town to town and is usually 55mph between towns.

>>45017270
>CCTV everywhere
>Police state
Pretty sure those only apply for the UK.
>>45017285
In all honestly it's probably something that should have been asked on /int/ or even /trv/, but then the responses would have been memes and nothing, respectively. I trust in elegan/tg/entlemen to maintain reason.

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>>45018603
That sounds like him.

>>45018603
see
>>45018079

>>45018502

Nah, you could probably find comparable vintages in either area though I would give French wine more of an edge in the higher quality areas.

Now Oregon wine and beer is up there with the best in the world

>>45018681
The interstates are all consistently straight because they were built in such a way that the military could use any given stretch of them as runways if they really needed to plop down an airbase in any random part of the country.

>>45018624
You can here, too. The image of Americans as triggerhappy is probably the most ignorant. The overwhelming majority of our world famous gun violence takes place in 11 cities. 11.

Just because we're armed doesn't mean we're paranoid or mean or looking for a fight, the same way Europe not being armed (largely) doesn't mean Europeans are cowards or statist or weak. You don't have anything to be afraid of, anon.

>>45018735
>Oregon

That's a funny way to spell Asheville.

>>45018751
>the same way Europe not being armed
It's not like one third of the population owns a gun. They aren't forbidden or hard to legally acquire in any way, except maybe in the UK.

>>45018789
>(largely)
Read my post, anon. Don't get defensive.

>>45018502
Well, you probably should hoard some of those bottles, since it looks like napa valley is probably going to turn into a desert in a decade or two.

>>45017760
YOU STILL USE THE GODDAMN IMPERIAL SYSTEM.
NOT EVEN THE BRITISH USE THE GODDAMN IMPERIAL SYSTEM ANYMORE.

>>45018830
Which segues nicely into how fucked up water rights are in the western US. Cause of all the people that decided to farm and populate the freaking desert.

Phoenix AZ and Las Vegas NV should not exist in a sane world

>>45018737
Anon, that's a myth. They're built in straight lines because straight lines are the most efficient route, and you need much, much more than a runway to serve as an airfield, even a temporary one.

>>45017981
Only because Lincoln would have gotten rid of all the slaves instead of letting them stick around.

>>45018502
Which french wine ? Bourgogne ? Côtes de Provence ? Savoie ? Riesling ? Côtes du Rhône ? Bordeaux ? Sud-Ouest ? Loire ?

>>45018766

Hey many I am not knocking it as I don't believe I have ever tried a beer out of Asheville, though I have heard good things and will have to keep an eye out in the stores (any suggestions from you would be appreciated).

But Portland is called Beervana for a reason.

>>45018888
>water rights
Avoiding comments about certain ranchers, the Bureau of Land Management is easily the most fucked up branch of the American bureaucracy.

>Hey, what's that? You dug a well on your property? And it filled with water?
>Sorry pal, that water filtered into your well from government-owned land. That means this well and, say, everything 500 yards around it is government land.
>Have a nice day!

>>>45017849
>>45017979
No, actually, that's actually a pretty important difference that was spotted here. In Europe, we tend to actually respect the police.(Not that there isn't a derogatory word for policemen in every language spoken here, mind you- but the general sentiment is that they're actually trying to protect the peace). In 'murrica, as /k/ has it "Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you".

That's a sentiment that's almost wholly alien to most Europeans. The ENTIRE REASON cops carry guns and ordinary citizens don't is that they Protect Shit. When pretty much anyone can carry a gun, it's not a big step to assume the authority that comes with it.

>>45018618
This gets into some pretty deep voting system shit that is bound to attract trolls, but here's a rundown:

>Voting is not compulsory in the US. Most people have no idea who anyone other than the P, VP, and mayyybe the Speaker of the House is. Who are their federal-level legislative reps? Who are any of the federal-level judicial reps? God help you if you ask about anything state-level, most people probably can't even name their governor.
>There are some good CGP Grey videos explaining how a first-past-the-post system inevitably leads to a deeply entrenched two-party system that's impossible for new parties to break into. Basically you're forced to consider how everyone else will vote and you end up voting against the candidate you dislike rather than for the candidate you like.
>We don't directly vote for president, we vote for electors that then meet in a convention called the Electoral College to cast their votes for president. States get a number of electoral votes proportional to their population, but it's skewed in favor of smaller states. In an extreme example, 1 Wyoming resident's vote counts 4 times more than 1 Californian's vote.
>In most states, a candidate that wins the majority of that state's popular vote gets ALL of that state's electoral votes, throwing any pretense of proportional representation out the window. Again, there's a good CGP Grey video about this ("The Trouble with the Electoral College").
>There is no legal requirement that electors vote in a way that represents their state's popular vote. Electors have voted contrary to their constituents' wishes dozens of times throughout history with no repercussions (CGP Grey, "How the Electoral College Works").

Most people in the US don't realize this. Our ballots just say "Who shall be the next President? X or Y?". There is nothing on the ballot disclosing anything about electoral votes, the electoral system, or even the identities of the electors themselves.

tl;dr: Shit's fucked.

>>45018974
Well, there isn't a rabid anti-cop culture in your country. The differences can be easily explained by that alone.

If people felt safer with cops on the street they wouldn't be so remiss about maybe allowing a gun registry. But the fact is there's a culture in the United States that glorifies and justifies criminality regardless. You have to deal with the culture first before you can regulate anything, as Europe's discovered with immigrants.

>>45018724
gator pussy, bro

>>45018735
Yeah because French wines have really been raking in those awards lately :^)

>>45018989
Which European countries legally require that politicians fulfill their promises?

I'm genuinely curious.

>>45016873
American culture is founded in revolt and anti-establishment.

European culture is built on tradition.

America's oldest institutions still play victim cards or are always on the attack against authority. We obsess over the IRA, punk rock, etc. We are proud and loud. Christ, our most popular religions are all Christian but are all anti-Catholic.

Yes, we have traditions but most of them were made to contrast the old ways.

This is the vaguest, most blanket statement about almost all the cultures.

>>45019021
There are actually two distinct cultures relating to cops.
One glorifies being a criminal and the other trusts cops about as far as an anemic 12 year old girl could throw one.
Doesn't help that police are rarely held accountable for their fuck ups, project a "blue wall of silence", and get slaps on the wrist for things that would get everyone else thrown in jail for 10-20.
And I'm not even talking about the guys who shoot someone in a stressful situation. I'm talking about extortion and corruption and other premeditated stupidity. The worst they get is fired, and that's a stretch. A lot just get administrative leave, which is basically paid vacation.

There is a saying in the USA: live in California once leave beforebyou get soft. Live in New York (City) once leave before you get hard.

I've lives in the USA all my life in the Midwest (the 'nice' passive aggressive part) the only consistent thread I can find in Americans is that they will treat you well as a guest. But will talk shit about anyone and everyone behind thereback. And the guns aarmy such a big deal unless you runbinto the 10% of the population of people that is rabidly progun

>>45019065
The closest I can think of is Britain. Don't follow through with your campaign promises to powerful people and they'll publish a story about you sticking your dick in a pig's mouth at a Disdain for Plebs party.

>>45017259
I like how you think this is critical, because it is true, but its actually proof of your ignorance. Like, yeah, we do think its fine to live integrated. And yes, it is surprising when something bad happens. Because it usually doesn't. Because it is fine.

>>45017481
>American assassins rarely kill for some political or ideological purpose

Abraham Lincoln was killed by a southern Democrat hoping to avenge the civil war. Even the southerners reviled him for it. It was seen at the time as cowardly and dishonorable.

James Garfield was killed by a crazy person. He believed that he was owed the Ambassadorship to France and had written the speech that won Garfield the victory.

William McKinley was killed by a left-wing radical ("anarchist", though better described as a violent socialist). The socialist movement disowned him and then issued a statement pre-emptively declaring him a spy and provocateur a week before he made the attack.

John F. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald. A communist, he defected to the Soviet Union. He renounced his US citizenship and lived there for three years before changing his mind and returning with a Russian wife (who he'd met six weeks earlier). His communist activism continued. A year later, he attempted to assassinate Edwin Walker, a conservative activist and retired General. A few months later, out of the blue, he attempted to join several right-wing groups; all had heard of him and he was rejected. Then he went to the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico, where they declared him a troublemaker and loudly renounced any ties to him; they also took the trouble to film this. Oswald returned to America and took a job week later at the book depository along JFK's route. A month later, he assassinated Kennedy. After being arrested, Oswald demanded the chief counsel of the Communist Party USA as his lawyer (who was on vacation at the time); before any of this could happen, Oswald was assassinated by nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

OK so four American Presidents. Three killed for political motives (pro-confederacy democrat, "anarchist" socialist, and communist). One crazy.

I get what you're trying to say, but the evidence doesn't bear it out.

>>45019116
But why does the blue wall exist, anon? Is it because New York City Police Department, which has a majority non-white force, is full of racists?

Culture counts, dude. You can't piss on people for generations and expect things to just flip around. And yeah, I apply that to all parties in this cop/criminal argument.

>>45018974
Yeah, I'd definitely say there's less anti-cop sentiment - not that people won't always have issues with the police, but they do tend to be looked at more favourably - especially here, where police with guns tend to be pretty rare (personally I can only recall seeing armed police at security checkpoints for things like airports, government buildings and some international sporting events)

>>45018270
That's an oddly specific teaching you got there.
Honestly, Americans have the right on that one. I've only met a limited number of tourist Americans in my country, but those that I did stood out by a mile.

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>>45017211
>doesn't mention the state with 4 cities in the top 11

some of you yanks are so fucking stupid, I swear to god

I wonder what kind of mong votes for hillary or bernie and then I see posts like that, jesus christ what a fucking retard

>>45018947

Not that anon, but AsheVegas was Beer City USA until they stopped handing out the title. The big names in this neck of the woods are Highland Brewing Company, Green Man, and Wicked Weed, with more microbreweries than you can shake a stick at.

>>45018947

If you're West Coast, you'll be highly unlikely to get anything from out thisaway. If you have a smashingly spectacular beer bar that sources widely, you might find some Wicked Weed, Foothills, Red Oak, Highlands, or Green Man. As far as mass micros, Sierra Nevada and New Belgium both run their East Coast operations out of Asheville. More breweries per capita than any other city in North America, Portland included. There's a reason we take Beer City USA almost every single year. FFS, my tiny mountain town of 2500 has three breweries, and the next town over has 4 and a baller taproom / biergarten.

Srsly, if you're a hardcore hop-head, plan a vacation and come do a brewery tour. Only on-site drinking will truly do it justice.

>>45017486
>non-Abrahamic religion
are you implying we hate people other than Muslims? This is America sir. We don't discriminate unless they're Muslims, or wear head-things like Muslims. But thats an accident, we don't mean to hurt those Hindus, we just think they're Muslims.

>>45019183
The blue wall exists because of an us vs them culture, but it applies to both sides. The cops think they're above everyone else and that everyone else is out to get them, and everyone else sees cops not getting in trouble for things and (sometimes rightfully) thinks that it's bullshit.

>>45019178
What about the failed ones, though?

>>45016973
>the currency and McDonalds
Also abortions.

>>45019206

Not the guy you're replying to, but Texas a shit

>>45019065
Well, over here if you are elected and fuck everything up, your voter base remembers and no matter how much money you pour on your campaign the lousy bureaucrat on the other side will get elected.

why are these constant bait threads tolerated

Big things i've been told by my traveller friends?
>>45016901
And also Americans make more eye contact and smile more often to strangers, I'm not entirely sure what they meant by the eye contact thing.
Also you tip in america because the waiters are poor as shit and the standard is anywhere from 15% to 25% depending on whatever you feel like.

>>45019268
Because nobody but you and the other people calling it bait are actually treating it as bait.

>>45019183
You don't have to be racist to be a bully that enjoys abusing power.

>>45019251
flyover state detected

>>45019234
>The cops think they're above everyone else and that everyone else is out to get them
Rightfully.

>everyone else sees cops not getting in trouble for things and (sometimes rightfully) thinks that it's bullshit.
Again, rightfully.

Both sides have completely justifiable reasons for playing things close to their chests. Cops are expected to react perfectly in every situation they encounter, which, like the American expectation for teachers, drives a lot of that us vs. them attitude.

A cop doesn't stop being a normal person just because they put on a badge. The expectations society places on them are so outrageous it's no surprise at all they huddle together and keep to their own. No one even attempts to humanize or empathize with them.

>>45019284
When you tip in Europe it's a small sum (you leave it in the small dish where they bring the note, or with the coffee). It's seen as nice but not necessary.

>>45019291
And you don't have to be a 4 year old to apply isolated events to entire groups of people.

New Englander here. Specifically south eastern Massachusetts (about an hour south of Boston). New England is a weird spot in the US. First off is the weather, it's horrible. Never stays consistent, there is a saying "if you don't like the weather stick around" can be brutally hot one day and frigid the next. It was 70 this Christmas and a few weeks later was the first snow.
The people are interesting. The rest of the US thinks we are rude. Always rushing and on the go. We talk fast and are cynical as anything to boot. Things that are local are given extra doses of cynicism. However when riled up or we find our turf encroached on there is a strong sense of comradirre. The idea being since it's our's it's 'wicked awsome'. This salty Sailor attitude is strangely tempered by the educational and medical center of the US. Boston has the countries best hospitals and some of the highest regarded universities world wide such as Harvard, MIT and Yale. The rest of the state boasts some top schools as well leading to the highest degree holding state in the US. This also leads to a stubborn streak and a heavy sense of 'I'm right'. Also somehow the most liberal state besides California.
Taxes suck (Taxachusetts), driving sucks (Masshole. Is a well known term) also driving in Boston is winding and brutal. Seafood is great. A good new England clam chowda is second to none. Influences are mostly Irish and Italian, where I'm at its more French and Portuguese.
It's a silly place

>>45019206
The three largest metros are New York, LA, and Chicago. Sorry, that's just a cold hard fact.

But yes, DFW is number 4.

>>45018380
>three feet of snow in January
Lucky you. I got maybe three inches in Georgia.

>>45019310
And nobody attempts to empathize with them because "I AM THE LAW" is their modus operandi until a judge calls them a bunch of retards for it after they try to arrest someone for "resisting arrest" without actually bothering with the preexisting arrest. Then they play it cool for a while until everyone forgets and it restarts.

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>>45019338
>It's a silly place
You have no idea.

>>45019326

In Ireland I got looked at like I was crazy when I tipped the bartenders / wait staff. But having worked in the service industry I can't not tip, and I got absolutely fantastic service everywhere.

>>45019365
So again we're back to this propagation of an us vs. them attitude. You continue to apply isolated events to an entire group of people and act insulted when someone says it doesn't apply to the whole.

You are why the blue wall exists, dude.

>>45019338
>about an hour south of Boston
Which city?

>>45017981

The guy you're responded to is agreeing with you. Lincoln's plan was reconciliation. Instead, with him murdered, that whole plan went into the crapper.

Reconstruction was much more vindictive, less was actually reconstructed, and the attempts at racial reconciliation were completely abandoned. That's all on Booth's head.

Not only that, but Booth's action was widely viewed as cowardly and dishonorable. Whether or not their behavior actually bears this out, the South perceived itself as very noble and saw this as a stain on honor.

So pretty much everyone hated Booth, and history gives pretty much everyone-- northerners, southerners, and blacks everywhere-- a good reason to hate him.

>>45019338
>Best hospitals
Houston would like a word with you

>>45019338
I am so glad I left that fucking shithole. God. If I never see MA again in my life it'll be too soon.

I know I'm not really contributing to the topic, but I'd just really like to say how proud I am that this threat hasn't yet devolved into shitflinging, despite some anon's best efforts.

>>45019310
This bothers me somewhat. I keep hearing this "but cops are just normal, everyday people," but normal people aren't expected to deal with defusing dangerous situations as their actual job. If they're not capable of dealing with the work environment, then they should be working somewhere else.

And the reason that people give the police so little trust when they do screw up is that they're tired of seeing people get killed or otherwise taken advantage of by law enforcement, who then gets no real punishment for having done so. If the police were a more willing to hold their own accountable for their major mistakes, the public would be far more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

>>45019442
>Someone talking about the Reconstruction accurately or even acknowledging it exists.

Good God, it's like seeing a unicorn. Thank you so much.

>>45019421
The blue wall is why it does apply to the whole.

>>45019338
>Seafood is great.

Seafood is goddamn fantastic. It's a shitty part of the county to live in, but the seafood is so much better than anything I ever got in the midwest.

It's nearly impossible to find a anywhere that sells ground bison, though, and that bothers me.

>>45019458
The thing is American police have actually had to deal with miniwars before. The LA riots left a massive stain on people's memories. Hell, every Korean I know has a relative that lost something or someone in that.

>>45019021
Actually, in my country specifically I'd say there's a pretty strong anti-cop sentiment, particularly in the younger crowd. "Anarchy" is actually used in a political context, even if it's mostly fringe groups that never make it into the Parliament proper. To put it bluntly, if you're under 30 you're pretty much expected to blow raspberries if you pass by a cop. And yet, there's never been any doubt as to what their job is and what they're supposed to do (how competently they do it, of course, is another matter).

>>45016873
In the US 100 years is a long time.

In the UK 100 miles is a long distance.

>>45019296

>Massachusetts is a flyover state

>>45019458
How does being expected to defuse dangerous situations stop you from being a normal person? And please, really? You're going to pull the "If you can't handle it, you're a bad cop" excuse? I'm sure you'd apply the same to soldiers too? "If you come back home with PTSD you're a bad soldier." Listen to what you're saying, dude.

No one is honestly arguing that police officers abusing power isn't a problem and a horrible, horrible thing. The only thing people are saying is it's just as wrong to apply those isolated cases, and they are isolated, to the whole as it is to apply isolated cases of criminality to an entire racial group.

You aren't even willing to empathize with them for even a second, you just blame the whole for the actions of a few and expect them to deal with it. They're not. The blue wall remains. Good job for solving nothing.

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Reminder.

Probably good places to go adventure and have horrible things happen.

>>45018860
Listen, we have roughly the same landmass Europe and and over 300 million people who were brought up with the system, effort has been made to convert but the cost to replace signs and the slowed economy from everyone having to relearn a measurement system makes it an unpopular decision to enforce. Engineers do however learn the metric system so don't worry too much.

>>45019397
I've never tipped any bartender to be honest. I tip waiters when I got some coins on me but that's it. Americans say tips encourage good service but I've never seen any of them complaining about bad service here.

Also, tip for ameribros or other foreigners visiting France : if you are in a bar or a restaurant and order a coffee, sometimes they will serve you an espresso. Better be safe than sorry and order precisely what you want (a lungo or an espresso).

>>45019556
>You aren't even willing to empathize with them for even a second, you just blame the whole for the actions of a few and expect them to deal with it.

This typically happens when you start to act like a militant gang and eagerly slaughter citizens on a frequent basis.

>>45019230
we did outlaw important native rituals for close to 100 years...

>>45019488
And it doesn't just occur in criminal cases. Again, you don't understand what the blue wall is. You're being political about it and applying isolated events to the whole, because you're unwilling to empathize with the people you're trashing. If you don't like cops, say so. Don't hide behind this blue wall nonsense, you clearly don't get what it's about.

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>>45019580
>I've never tipped any bartender to be honest.

>>45018737
>The interstates are all consistently straight because they were built in such a way that the military could use any given stretch of them as runways if they really needed to plop down an airbase in any random part of the country.
This isn't correct at all, Anon. The interstates are too thin for that. They can't stand any serious use for taking off and landing planes.
The Autobahn on the other hand, can. Germany overengineered the SHIT out of it.

>>45019601
>eagerly slaughter citizens on a daily basis
Nice fucking meme.

>>45018200

This is no longer the case. In the late 1970's, during the oil crisis, President Carter passed a national 55 mph speed limit as a fuel efficiency measure. It was widely hated, but although Carter was voted out of office, his party controlled Congress until the mid 1990's.

When the Republicans took over congress in 1995, repealing the national speed limit was one of the first things they did. States went apeshit at first; I fondly remember doing well over a hundred (legally!) on US interstates in rural areas.

Later things settled down. On most interstates the speed limit is 55 downtown in a major city, 65 everywhere else in a city, and 75-85 outside the cities, and 95+ in empty, flat, rural areas.

So basically 55mph was only true for about 15 years, and hasn't been true for more than 20 years.

>>45019601
Thanks for playing. Should have guessed it from the outset.

Sorry everyone, didn't mean to push the thread off track. Kindly ignore the troll and his ilk.

>>45019620
Actually there are some stretches out west designed for use by B-52s coming back home if their bases have been nuked. Reconstitution teams would head out in semis with all the equipment needed if the balloon went up.

>>45019557
What are those isolated squares in the top left?
Sorry, my Geography isn't what it was supposed to be.

>>45019559
I can logically understand there must be some logistical constraints beyond "muh 'Murrican pride" for not following THE ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD in unit measurement, but every time I try to read a book (particularly if it was originally translated from a different, foreign language) and see so-and-so's height given in feet and inches I crawl this much closer to having an aneurysm.

>>45019619
That's not how it is done over here.

Plus, bartenders actually make more than the minimum wage here.

>>45018222

If you're American, tell them you're Canadian if you're really that worried. It's not nearly as bad as people say.

I would warn you that if you're jewish to be very careful and don't wear or say anything that might identify you.

>>45018228

Google "Augustus Sol Invictus". I double-dog-dare you.

>>45019619
Not that anon, but I find it interesting that >>45019397 says
>But having worked in the service industry I can't not tip
Whereas I currently do on and off service work while I'm at Uni, and I wouldn't dream of tipping the cunts like me or the people I work with - maybe, if it was a bigass table, or if we'd clearly been difficult, but certainly not in general

>>45019556
If you can't handle the job, you shouldn't be working the job. Period. Being a bad cop doesn't mean that you're a bad person, it just means that you shouldn't be working a job where you're expected to deal with that sort of thing.

Perfection isn't expected, but the prevailing attitude among a lot of police departments is that they're not even going to try. Take a look at all of the situations were cops drop the excuse "but I felt my life was in danger" for shooting someone who rationally could have posed no or very little threat to them. That's not the sort of thing that builds public trust.

And I do empathize with them. For the reasons I said over here, >>45018568, it's a hard, sucky job. But that doesn't mean can't hold them accountable for the times they do screw things up.

>>45019710
We also really value ergonomics.

>>45019722
Alright fine. Just don't pull that shit in the states. I'm dumb dog lucky enough to make a decent minimum wage plus tips, which BARELY gets me by as it is. It's a dirty shit job full of dirty shit people, and you get to see the worst a human has to offer when they want to sit down and eat something.

>>45019763
>We also really value ergonomics.
I don't follow.

>>45019208
>>45019219

Well I honestly cannot argue your points without using the same points, sounds like we're in fairly similar beer drinking environments and to be fair it looks like Asheville was topping the charts before Portland was though Portland has been topping the charts more recently. Seems like there are 4 or 5 places that get shuffled around the top of the list depending on what you're reading, and I am more than willing to raise a pint to anyone who knows and respects beer (though I can say that as of last year Portland had the most micro breweries of any city in the world per capita).

I'll have to keep an eye out for them and I am not promising but I think the beer hall down the street from my work had some Wicked Weed on tap. They're really good about having a good variety and they have 60 taps to fill so they're able to get a good spread.

I'm an army brat, grew up in several states, and my family has hosted exchange students (mostly Japanese girls since they're usually polite) ever since I was a toddler, and my folks have also worked as district managers for AYUSA.

Exchange students are often surprised by how forward Americans are, and they often act confused when people start asking them how they are, if they're OK, or other such things. The Japanese girls especially, and it takes them a while to realize that, yes its okay to complain and talk about things to other people.

The Germans tended to be somewhat rude, especially the more metropolitan ones. While they tend to be more inquisitive and ask questions, they were often pretty standoffish about thier host families getting involved in thier personal life, tended to backtalk or ignore people, and would complain about people wanting to talk to them. Though this was more a problem with people from Munich and Berlin. Also the boy from Stutgart we watched snapped his fingers alot and would cry over soccer.

We had a Korean girl, who actually lived a few minutes from Gangnam (imagine her surprise when she found out how popular that Psy song was), and she loved every second of America. She loved the shopping, socializing, visiting monuments, the whole shebang. Plus dad got transferred from Jersey to Texas when she came over, so we got to see her react at how big the country was (we drove the way, it was funny swing her think every other rest stop was going to be Texas) and how different the two places were.

I will admit, nearly every exchange student went back home around 3-5 pounds heavier. Except the German boy, he played soccer and stayed fit, though I think we all got a little heavier since his mom worked for Rittersport and wound send us all chocolates.

Mmmmmh, pfeferminz.

>>45019787
The imperial system works really well when it comes to eyeballing using your own body parts and referential objects.
It's completely anecdotal, but every European I've worked with has usually been terrible with eyeballing any kind of measurement. Part of me wants to think is because the metric system is good for science, but bad for the day to day eyeballing.

>>45019619
>>45019722
You know, this never occured to me before.
Most of the bars I've been to, the bartender is usually the oldest guy in there (typically 30's-40's when the staff and people are 20's-30's) and half of the time is the proprietor to boot. But beyond the excuses... tipping in bars just never happens. I usually tip something at a café or a restaurant, assuming I got at least decent service, but bars, nope.

>>45019827
Damn. Reminding me of my time in Hawaii when I was a kid. Out there for 3 years on Oahu. Had a friend who was an army brat.

>>45018952
That's why I enjoy the fact that I live next to one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world in an area that's technically a swamp

>>45019855
That's...pretty anecdotal, yeah. I'm pretty sure eyeballing a metre should pretty easy for the average European, especially if their job involved that, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to eyeball a foot. Is it from the sole to the knee? From the ankle to the knee? From knee to hip?

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>>45018724

>>45019722
Many states in the US have a lower minimum wage for tipped positions (although the employer is supposed to make up the difference if you don't reach the non-tipped minimum with your tipped minimum + tips).

Tipping (I hesitate to say "tipping culture") arose as a result of Prohibition in the US, when we banned alcohol nationwide because some religious nutcases pushed legislation through. Bars and pubs were of course suddenly bleeding cash because nobody came in to drink anymore. The solution? Employers started paying their workers less and told them to start asking for tips. And ninetyish years later, here we are, getting the stink-eye from someone making $4 an hour because I didn't tip ALL YOU DID WAS PULL A SLICE OF PIZZA OUT FROM UNDER A HEAT LAMP, FUCK OFF

>>45019855
I think humans in general are not that great at reckoning (hence the invention of measuring standards). Especially volume. We suck at eyeballing volume.

>>45019618
What it's about isn't as important as what it actually does.
And what it actually does is protect corrupt and otherwise criminal cops. It might also protect innocent cops, but guess what? Everyone else has to deal with the media cycle that assumes guilt until proven innocent. Everyone else has to face the courts when they're accused of shady shit. No one else gets special treatment from the legal system as a whole.
If the cops can't handle it like everyone else does, then they shouldn't be cops. End of story.

>>45019911
How about the length of a foot, from toe to heel?
Or if you want to get a little weird, the length of your forearm?

>>45019855
What would need to be eyeballed?

I don't think you're wrong, by the way - I can roughly measure in both, being from the UK, but I'd say it's more just an experience thing

>>45019924
Come to think of it, did (legal) bars and pubs actually exist during the Prohibition?
What on Earth did they serve, coffee?

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>>45019924
>(although the employer is supposed to make up the difference if you don't reach the non-tipped minimum with your tipped minimum + tips).

AAAAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAAAA THAT'S RICH ANON

Tip for good service or die in a car accident on the way home.

>>45019924
Humans are fucking amazing at eyeballing distance, you gimp. There's a reason we're the best and most accurate throwers on the planet. We're naturally very good at it.

>>45019924
>We suck at eyeballing volume.
So fucking much this.

>>45019924
>(although the employer is supposed to make up the difference if you don't reach the non-tipped minimum with your tipped minimum + tips)
That's not how it actually works. Because it's your word against theirs in a matter of mostly un-recorded money, and they can find or fabricate a million and one reasons to fire your ass if you try to get them to pay you more.

>>45019988
...we're the only throwers on the planet, though.

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The only thing about this whole thing with voting that scares me is that US has only two parties that never agree while Europeans have multiple parties. I shudder to think about the US if they even gain more parties than we have now. Also Texas best state.

>>45019999
Because everything else sucks badly. Have you seen chimps and raccoons trying to throw? It's pathetic

>>45020006
>says this
>despite Texans being most likely to vote for independent libertarians during local elections.

>>45019924
I guess over here eating outside (eating in general, actually) is considered a serious business and most of the staff in restaurants are well-considered. Does not apply to fast food chains.

That and being shady with salaries can get your gig closed pretty fast.

>>45020041
Texas is special, anon. It doesn't count.

>>45018410

The colors were picked by major TV news organizations. IIRC they used to alternate because there was a psychology study that showed that people prefer blue. At some point they settled on Democrats being blue.

The left-wing party in America is the Democrats. They're pretty centrist by European standards. The American left was called "liberal" for historical reasons. After the radical Wilson administration a century ago, the Left went from calling themselves "progressives" to liberal because they argued that left-wing ideology is even more liberal than the classical liberals... but mostly because the progressives had become deeply unpopular and needed to rebrand. Recently, as "liberal" became something of a dirty word, they've returned to calling themselves progressive.

The right-wing party in America is the Republicans (or Grand Old Party -- GOP). Conservative means something different in each country (eg in former Soviet Bloc the "conservatives" are communists), so let's look at ideologies directly.

There's basically nothing that resembles an American-style conservative movement in continental Europe. In Britain, though, Americans deeply admire Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives. Currently, the only British politician who comes to mind who represents that stream of thought is Daniel Hannan.

The conservative mainstream embraces the classical liberalism that originated in britain-- what Hollande called the "Anglo model". The European-style moderate right is similar in spirit to the GOP "establishment". Europe's radical right wing resembles some fringe right-wing groups in America-- but they're very small compared to their Euro cousins. Instead, Americans have evangelical christians as a major force on the right, who to my knowledge have no direct equivalent in Europe.

>>45019961
...But that should vary wilding depending on who's doing the eyeballing. Feet sizes are a thing, after all.
Forearm length, now that I can understand. Palm included, that should be half a metre, give or take a few cm.

>>45020006
Why? A two-party system is terrible for a country so big and diverse as the US

>>45020041
>libertarians are bad

t. George Soros

>>45017523
>"how are you?" is a question of genuine concern. Also probably true in the Nordic countries
Can confirm for nordics

>>45020044
Over here, restaurants are shady by default. It's all a matter of how often people scrub the muck off. Let it slide though, or have a bad owner, and holy shit you are fighting tooth and nail for your money.

Had to rob my own place of work once because the damn checks kept bouncing. Dirty fuck.

>>45020091
Maybe the checks kept bouncing cuz all their money got stolen :^)

>>45020069
Because gaining more parties is going to cause people to lose their fucking MINDS when it happens. I'm still waiting for the Republicans to fall so far that they violently split in two, just so the thieves and corporate ass-socks can save themselves from the increasingly blood-visioned fanatics.

>>45017921
His point was though, you're still in Texas.

>>45020055
>Europe's radical right wing resembles some fringe right-wing groups in America-- but they're very small compared to their Euro cousins
Yeah, only 25% in the last elections.

>>45019965
Most distilleries and the like converted to the manufacturing of carbonated sodas, and many former bars either turned into café restaurants, drugstores, or closed down because of the Great Depression.

All those huge American soda companies? The popularity of Colas and root beer? All that a result of business finding a way despite the economy getting fucked twice over from both Prohibition and the Market Crash.

>>45020070
I was not implying that at all, heck I'm a bit of a Texas Libertarian myself. I was just pointing out the irony in anon's statement of fear in multiple parties despite Texas voting for them quite a bit in local elections.

>>45020069
As long as we use a first-past-the-post, winner-take-all voting system, voting for a third party is literally throwing your vote away. The two-party system is as terrible as it is inescapable.

>>45020055
I forgot left/right-wing is separate from lib/cons. This reminds me: in the US these terms are all conflated. Left-wing IS liberal IS democrat, Right-wing IS conservative IS republican. I've seen a lot of my fellow usonians get quite confused when they hear about a foreign "conservative" party enacting left-wing laws.

>>45020160
Pretty much. In Central Europe, 100 miles can get you across something like four or five countries (particularly if you cross through "countries" like San Marino or Lichtenstein).

>>45020147
No, they bounced because the guy didn't put money into the account, because he kept it for himself to buy new cars. He was a known thief, blacklisted from the local city, by his own family. It was disaster story after disaster story, people leaving all the time. I didn't take money either, he didn't KEEP money there; the only ones with access to the big bux was the bartenders. I lifted a bunch of costly wine that never got used.

...I mean he gave me the keys to the place to do clean up at night, the fuck was he expecting. Dude was not bright.

>>45020187

TBF, you could call our Libertarians left-wing conservatives, but nobody likes that and they mostly side with Republicans anyway in US politics.

>>45020202
I'm not sure if I should be amazed or horrified.
...This passes for normal in American restaurants? Surely anon was just unlucky with his choice in employment, right?

>>45020197
That's so weird to me. 100 miles is like, well that's an afternoon trip to some store. And I'm in one of the smaller states.

>>45019965
>Come to think of it, did (legal) bars and pubs actually exist during the Prohibition?

No. You had speakeasies, which were these out-of-the-way places people would go to drink. If the police came by they would hide and booze and pretend to be a normal restaurant or something.

>>45020234
Of course not, Jesus. I don't assume every European city is some mini-Baghdad just from the stories I hear.

>>45020234
Nah. Happens all the time with smaller joints. You should see the cities and the clubs. Even worse shit goes down.

Do not assume for a second that the restaurant industry is not 70% criminals or ex-cons, 20% terrified teenagers getting fucked against their will in the back, and 10% bitter veterans trying to make a goddamn living.

>>45019710
I cannot tell you how many times I have held my foot up to something to measure it. Most people don't need their measurements to be scientifically precise, which is the only real difference between metric and imperial.

>>45020197
>Lichtenstein
I drove through there once when I was touring through Europe on the way to Switzerland. It was basically nothing, reminded me of some outlet shopping towns in southern Jersey.

Now Austria though, what I wouldn't give to visit there again traveling from small town to town and enjoying home made food at small inns again.

America is really sorely lacking in good bed-and-breakfast places. I blame the lack of older buildings and architecture, but sadly that's something that can't really be remedied.

>>45020234
I once started adding up my hours and started noticed that I was always a couple hours short on my payslip.
At another job, I was supposed to clock out exactly at close even though actually closing required the restaurant to be closed for 20 minutes.

>>45020244
It depends where you are, but it's a bit of an exaggeration.

On the other hand, watch "Top Gear search for the best driving road in Europe" and they go through the edges of about 4 or 5 countries within a couple of hundred miles or so

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>>45020244
>well that's an afternoon trip to some store
Why would you go that far to go to a store ?

For a 100-miles trip, I'm already considering the train.

>>45016873
Californian here. The states have no real unifying culture, other than that were are all American. Even in California we have so many sub cultures, people sometimes refer to how we speak as Californian. Words I use every day like savage, chill, hella, and brutal (all used as positive pronouns) are not even recognized by people 5 hours south

Sure is a lot of politics here. Not like there isn't more to say about American cultural differences from Europe.

People focus much more on their jobs, the idea is that your job should be fulfilling and therefore you don't need a life outside of it. Most people are secretly depressed.
Also, everything is a huge deal and people get very uncomfortable about things that are normal in other countries. Nudity/sexuality and race especially.

Nobody ever walks anywhere, except from a car to the door, because generally buildings are a couple stories tall at most. That's less true in the East, and San Francisco is an exception in the west, but still more true than anywhere in Europe. Public transportation doesn't really exist, there are some busses but they are only used by the very poor. Also, apartments are the sole province of the very poor as well.

Racial differences are more extreme among the poor, in cities they tend to be black criminals in gangs, while whites live in trailers out by smaller towns. Mexicans live in either community, and asians are generally not poor but if they are they live like blacks.
Gangs are important. They generally have more control than the police do, in areas where there's any crime to speak of, and almost all gangs are divided along racial lines. Hispanic gangs tend to be more organized and more about keeping the peace, black gangs don't give a fuck. This is west coast, I don't really know about the east.

>>45020294
It's going to get ugly as fuck in Seattle. Companies are already in a screaming death spiral over having to pay a living wage, and, terrified they'll have to give up that third yacht, are already going berserk slicing hours down and going full fucking anal madness on overtime. I imagine there's about two or three more good years in this industry before it turns into a shitshow. I'm going to milk this summer and the next for all it's worth, while trying to slink my way into some other industry. Maybe weed. I'd probably be happier.

>>45017523
>Americans talk very loud, (almost anywhere)
True, but not really relevant when you're in America because there's no notion of it being not appropriate, except potentially in Church.
Church is very important to some communities by the way, the traditional American goes to church every sunday and it's a major community social event. It's less common in modern times because people are less religious and more busy.
>American small talk is just meaningless words to fill the silence
It's not for filling silence, it's for being friendly and building relationships. But it's true that Americans avoid politics and religion in conversation normally because they can upset people.

>>45017906
Driving a long time is also very American. When I was in Spain, an Irishman was very surprised when I suggested that he could have driven home for the holidays, while I considered it so obvious as to be a matter of course for anyone with a car. It's a two day drive.

>>45017849
>In USA if your feelings are hurt by something that's your own damn problem.
This is the opposite of the truth. Americans take hurt feelings to be a way bigger deal than Europeans.
>Also, I notice EUs have a HUGE submission to authority complex
This is why major European capitals are full of anarchists fucking up police cars and shit, while American cities are peaceful aside from money and drug based crimes.

>>45017917
All of this is true and is typical of Burger/Kiwi relationships.
>the average New Zealander speaks better English than the English do.
Not hard desu

>>45020282
You must be a 12.
US shoe sizes are based on being equal to the length of your foot in inches plus a half inch.
So since I'm a 9 and a half, I can know that my foot is about 9 inches long.

One advantage of a foot being 12 inches is that it can be easily divisible by half, six, four, and three and twelve while 10 is easily divisible by five, two and ten. So it's easier to eyeball divisions of a foot.

>>45020332
I like to think that America has the unique setup where, despite the fact we all fucking hate one another and practically cheer when another state gets fucked up, if someone from the outside threatens us, suddenly we become a bloodmad hivemind collective ready to leap down their throats hand in hand together. It's weird.

>>45018100
>you can be in someone's property and they can shoot you.
They can but I've never heard of it happening except once and that was an accident. An old guy that went on walks on everybody's property ran afoul of some guard dogs at a marijuana growing operation. Someone tried to shoot the dog and hit the man instead.

>>45018210
We're comparing to Europe here. Americans are perfectly able to hold the amount of beer that other people drink. Americans either don't drink, or drink consistently to excess.

>>45018222
Everyone hates the typical American tourist, but Americans who try to talk to people nicely are liked fine.

>>45018298
Not really true in my experience. They're city people but they're not ruder than the folks in American cities.

>>45018200
We normally drive more like 80mph. Speedlimit laws are more like guidelines.

>>45019065
I bet Iceland does, the fucking fairies.

>>45019664
Maine. Basically just forest. Some guy built a giant robot there though.

>>45019710
>other people use a system I don't and this upsets me
Probably the worst argument for switching, honestly.

>>45019975
>>45019995
That's the law, otherwise they have to be paid federal minimum wage. Doesn't mean the law is always followed.

>>45018572

That's because while the Left represents the same ideology basically everywhere (differing in extremity but not qualitatively), the Right is a catch-all term that groups together everything that is Not Left.

Both the RIght and the Left in europe (*not* britain, though) tend to agree that power and decision-making should be centered in wise elites. The dispute is over who those elites should be and how they should be selected, but fundamentally there's consensus that people should be governed by what Americans would consider to be a pervasive and activist government.

Fascists in America agree with this as well; they're very similar to their European counterparts. But conservatives and libertarians in America both strongly disagree; they cleave to the principles of federalism, natural rights, and minimalist government that drove the American Revolution (itself a product of post-ECW British thinking). To an American right-winger, socialists and fascists are largely indistinguishable.

The strongest American candidate in recent memory to rally the American fascist movement was Pat Buchanan's primary challenge against George HW Bush in 1992. He made a strong showing at first until conservative activists started publicizing Buchanan's own platform and describing it as "left wing" (and in conservative terms it was). Buchanan's campaign collapsed.

I think "natural" support for a euro-style activist "right-wing" government in America is at best 5% or so. Far far smaller than the other blocs in the American Right: evangelicals who vote purely on religious issues, establishment technocrats who acquiesce to the Left but believe they're more competent choices to administrate it, and libertarians who want less government in all spheres. Let alone "mainstream conservatives" who want some blend between those views.

>>45020331
Our train infrastructure outside of the Boston-Washington corridor and mayyyybe the SF-LA corridor is laughable. It is absolutely not a viable option. I've done Denver to Indianapolis on Amtrack and it is miserable. If you want to get somewhere outside of mass transit range (assuming your city even has a mass transit system), it's car, bus, or plane. And I lived about 90 minutes from the nearest major airport.

>>45020332
>savage
>brutal
These are not NorCal
>hella
This is exclusively NorCal

Where the fuck are you from?

>pronouns
They're adverbs and adjectives.

>>45020332
I recognize all of those, though not being from CA I would never use them in conversation.

Also: Californians call interstates "the #" instead of "I-#", like "the 5" instead of "I-5" (always a dead giveaway for a CA-to-WA transplant).

>>45020456
Hella is noun, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase, adjective and punctuation where I'm from

>>45020384
For real.
Fuck California and doublefuck New York.

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>tfw you have absolutely no tells, save one - saying 'wicked', which IMMEDIATELY has people practically slavering over you with "AHAHA YOU'RE FROM NEW ENGLAND, AAAAAREN'T YOU"

>>45020429
>and mayyyybe the SF-LA corridor is laughable
>the SF-LA corridor
>Governor's pet project will be the slowest high-speed train in the world, is well on its way to becoming the most expensive per meter (the only ones currently beating it are super high speed super high capacity trains in Japan) and isn't anywhere near done despite years of development
>not laughable

>>45020486
>tfw I get excited, my really blatant jersey accent comes out

>>45020384
That's not at all unique.

>>45020500
I don't get it

why do we have such tremendous problems with this seemingly simple task that the rest of the planet seems to be 50 years ahead of us on

is it some money interests thing, because it's always some money interests thing that's going to see us all die screaming

>>45020415
>But conservatives and libertarians in America both strongly disagree; they cleave to the principles of federalism, natural rights, and minimalist government that drove the American Revolution
Come on. Bush was a conservative and he clinged to the concept of a strong government as much as any european mainstream right-winger. Libertarians in the US aren't more numerous than european liberal parties, except in France because the centre gets routinely fucked by the right wing.

>>45020384
Not that unique really, local areas everywhere don't like each other, but fuck you completely if you're not from the country - only exceptions are places that are practically separatist, and even then there's still usually a better the devil you know thing going on

State of Jeffersonl here and while I use and here hella and to a lesser extent chill more than I should, I don't recall hearing savage and brutal.

>>45020486
>tfw you open your mouth and are immediately labeled an inbred racist hillbilly redneck who likes guns and NASCAR

>>45020514
>>45020525
I guess what I mean is that, to me, it feels like it'd be the same if Britain, France, and Germany all just clasped hands and snarled together if someone so much as said "Ah fuck that part of Europe"

The states feel so absurdly alien to one another at times that it shocks me to see it happen.

>>45020524
Bush was a progressive. Progressive Republicans are/were a thing.
Though now they're starting to die out.

>>45019524
go home mitt you're drunk

>>45019340
>DFW
>not houston

>>45020521
Bureaucracy!

>>45020521
Seattle here. Our city council thought they could dig a tunnel right next to the ocean and it wouldn't fill with water.

It fucking filled with water.

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>>45020555
>tfw you know a double PhD who has a super strong southern accent

>>45020338
>>45020367
>>45020398
>>45020415
WORDS WORDS WORDS WORDS

>>45020521
>seemingly simple task
>high speed train
Not so fast (heh) buddy, it's not easy anywhere.

>>45020521
Land use.

In the... 60s, I think, people got tired of having their homes bulldozed to lay down roads, so they got some laws passed to make it harder to do that. Turns out they work for trains, too.

>>45020512
So you pronounce water as "wooodur" and bagels as "baggalls"

>>45020578
This depends on whether you're talking about cities or metropolitan areas. DFW is a large built up area and so is a single metro with two primary cities and several suburbs.

By metros, DFW is number 4. By city limits alone, Houston is number 4. But NYC/LA/Chickorita are the top 3 by both metrics.

>>45020610
ok yeah I get that but it seems like America is just smashing its knees with a hammer over and over and screaming at the top of its lungs, while Japan and Europe calmly stare over at us from their perfectly functional public transport systems that they don't seem to have that much trouble finishing

but then I was in drilling and blasting for a while and saw the Big Dig go down, I shouldn't be all that surprised

>>45020592
The fuck...

>>45020635
I say wadda. Wooder is philly.

>>45020592
At least it cost less than nine digits.

>>45020660
Keep in mind Japan and most of Europe are a shitton smaller than the US is.

>>45020592
Oh, was that for the new stations being put in? That's gonna be fun.

>>45020696
Well I ain't asking for a 2000 mile vacuum tunnel train that can haul my pork ass from Cali to Chicago in under an hour, I just want some decent in-city transport

>>45020660
It's the price of four big digs. Or in pounds sterling, 60 Wembley Stadiums.

>>45018989

I think you're mixing up one point in the political process for the whole thing. In a parliamentary system, like-minded people get together into a party. That party runs for office, and gets representation in parliament similar to its support in the public. At that point, you still need A) a governing coalition, and B) a coherent national policy. To do that, the leaders of each party politick amongst themselves, mostly behind closed doors, negotiating over who gets to be in the governing coalition, which politicians serve in which political posts, and what policies get passed.

In the American system, you've got two very broad parties. Each is made up of a pastiche of interest groups- which in the european system would be parties in their own right. Politicians then run two elections: the first to see if they're selected by their party as the nominee, and the second to see if they get the job itself.

During the primaries, candidates position themselves to appeal to a working majority of interest groups within their party. Then party members vote in their primary-- picking candidates that appeal best to their interest group, but also balancing that with questions of who's most likely to be nominated and who's most likely to be elected in the general. In other words, the inter-party politicking that comes after an election in a Parliamentary system happens as intra-party negotiation prior to a primary election. And it happens openly and with the participation of ordinary voters rather than secretly among party elites.

What that means is that American politics appear far more volatile (because our battles are waged openly in the public square), but it takes a very long time to fundamentally change anything. The system is fundamentally very stable.

It's been a while since I watched them, but CGP Grey's videos mostly misunderstand this entire process and the point of it. Voting isn't merely a choice poll-- it's an extended, integrative social activity.

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>>45020727
>four big digs
>FOUR BIG DIGS

>FOUR
>BIG
>FUCKING
>DIGS

>>45020610
Yeah, but other places also aren't fucking up this badly on a project that, once built with tax payer dollars, will need either continuing subsidies or to have a higher passenger efficiency than the most efficient rail network in the world.

>>45020722
Compare the size of most US metroplexes with the size of any European city. Rome is a city you can theoretically walk from one end of to the other in a day. Dallas is not. It's not because of the lack of pedestrian spaces either, US cities are just really really big and spread out.

>>45019442
>>45019484

Any good books to read to give a good historical breakdown of Pre and Post Lincoln Reconstitution plan?

>>45020660
>perfectly functional public transport systems
Let's not get too optimistic here. Tramways and buses are good, metros too except in Paris. Trains are hit and miss depending on the place.

And a high-speed train ride is sometimes barely cheaper than the same trip on a plane. Granted, it's more convenient.

>>45020669
Ah, so you lived closer to the North then?
I lived over on Fort Dix, so we got a lot of Phillies around where I lived.

Also at school, when the Eagles and the Giants play, you could smell the bloodlust in the hallway.

Personally I really can't give a damn about football, or Country music which was super popular down there near Burlington/Brunswick/Columbus. Kinda odd considering that I was the only Texan most of them knew.

Also, fuck Camden and Newark. Those places should be taken off the map. Trenton would also be there too if it weren't for the Opera House.

>>45019351

Anything outside of the Blue Ridge isn't even prepared for that. Gwinnett county claims to have 6 warehouses full of chemicals and equipment for snow, but I'll believe it when I see it.

>>45020775
Yeah I'm speaking as a dumb dirty yank though, you guys make it look like you stole shit from the future

>>45020748
And this is assuming the price doesn't keep climbing. So, four big digs if you're optimistic in the face of pessimistic evidence.

>>45020560

Brit here, as much as we hate the French I think we've shown time and time again that we'll back them over practically anywhere else.

Most Brits tend to like Germany in my experience too.

>>45020686
It's projected to cost over four billion dollars. I swear, these motherfuckers must think they're building the latest engineering marvel of the western world and their names will go down in history books, when in reality all they're doing is causing sections of the city to fucking collapse.

>>45020521
Car manufacturer interests coupled with Amtrak historically being in their pocket has lead to something like this. All passenger trains and train lines legally have to curtail to commercial and industrial ones.

>>45020760
Even the rail project in Oahu is running into all sorts of problems and is making things horrible for the local businesses.

The big island could use it between Kona and Hilo more than Honolulu, especially since there is almost nothing between those two points comparatively.

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>>45020829
Yo, you live there? How's the island holding up? I haven't been there in 25 years and it was shit central but I'll die a liar if I say I don't miss it. I used to be east side.

>>45016999
People do that literally all the time for their fantasy setting of the week, though.

>>45020873
No, on the big island. Only really know what is on the news.

>>45020748
To be fair, the UK is looking to build/extend its high speed line up the country, and that's expected to cost somewhere between 43 and 80 billion quid

>>45016999
The US does have a very high mobility of labor though, while the EU has very little.

Also the US states can talk to each other.

>>45020752
>but other places also aren't fucking up this badly on a project that
We are building a 8 billions € TGV line that will probably never be profitable ever.

>>45019310
>cop
>normal person
If by "normal person", you mean "some bully whose quality of life peaked in high school", sure. That said, I think they'd get more respect if they weren't shooting so many innocents.
>inb4 dindu nuffin

>>45020338
>apartments are the sole province of the very poor
Eastern anon here. Apartment living is becoming more common, as people feel less secure about their incomes and homes.

>>45020521
>why do we have such tremendous problems with commuter rail
Obama tried to make a cross-country high-speed rail, but republican governors (who controlled the states such a line would pass through) shut it down. It was during that phase when the head of the republican party literally said the party's #1 goal was to make Obama a one-term president. As in, they would reject anything he supported, no matter how much that would hurt the country. It got to the point where republicans would support things, then immediately stop because Obama okayed it. That's how much they hated him.


>the "we're a big country, so that means we can't be functional" meme
It's a matter of political will and unity, not size. Our government is kind of patchwork and fragmented, a result of some choices made during the nation's founding. It leaves a lot of power in the hands of local and regional leaders, which means a lot of buy-in is required to make things happen nationwide. You can think of it as a check on the federal government's power, but it slows things down a lot.

>>45020926
>Also the US states can talk to each other.
Yeah, to tell each other how the others are a bunch of fucking idiots who don't understand how REAL Americans work and yell at New Mexico to stop drinking up the Ogallala, you methhead off-brand Mexicans

>>45020938
>Eastern anon here. Apartment living is becoming more common, as people feel less secure about their incomes and homes.

Yeah calling it the province of the 'very poor' is stupid as hell, it's become one of the only tenable ways to live if you're anywhere below Upper Class. And it is and is going to keep getting worse.

>>45020938
>If by "normal person", you mean "some bully whose quality of life peaked in high school", sure. That said, I think they'd get more respect if they weren't shooting so many innocents.

I'm gonna guess your only interaction is with maybe a traffic or beat cop, and not with an actual detective or investigator. Even then, the psychological and personality screenings for most departments weeds out those guys pretty early (though older guys never had to go through that process).

>>45019244

Fair point, but those are harder to pin down. Most aren't publicized at all, and those which are don't get as much media coverage. The guy who shot Teddy Roosevelt might have been crazy or ideological or both. John Hinckley was pretty clearly nuts. Squeaky Fromme tried to kill Gerald Ford in support of her idol Charles Manson, and then two weeks later Sarah Jane Moore tried the same thing out of support for radical left-wing causes (mostly the SLA).

Non-presidents: Sirhan Sirhan (who killed Robert F. Kennedy) was a palestinian terrorist. James Earl Ray was a southern Democrat who killed Martin Luther King for supporting civil rights and opposing Jim Crow and segregation. Harvey Milk was murdered by a fellow Democrat who was either crazy or ideological depending on whether you believe him.

So again we see the same thing. There are more crazies among the failed attempts, which is to be expected. But I think the overall pattern holds up.

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>>45020938
>apartments are the sole province of the very poor
You're missing out, ameribros.