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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Do you find these Bizarre?
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
The fact that pumpkin is seasonal makes less sense than the fact that it's in everything. I mean, it's a squash, it's from our continent, it's pretty dang productive, it has great industrial crop potential, why wouldn't it be in everything?
The things I found odd about the States after living in England for a year were 1) that we don't really have regional accents anymore, at least in large cities (and certainly not like Britain does! It's about 400 miles from Oklahoma City, where I grew up, to Austin, Texas, where my ex girlfriend lived, and you'd be hard pressed to find a difference between our accents, other than a bit of "softness" in how she pronounced the odd consonant; 400 miles will get you from London to Glasgow); 2) that we don't regularly use $1 and $2 coins, which are much more convenient for buying small things and impulse purchases than bills, which are for buying more expensive things; 3) that, while every American block will have at least one house flying a flag, only government buildings flew the British flag; 4) speaking of flags, I don't know if Oxfordshire even had one, whereas I know I could recognize a majority of US state flags from 60 yards in dim light; 5) that said, I did eventually learn a bit about heraldry, something that is only practiced by genealogists and snobs over here; 6) without a tradition of "British spelling" being foreign, there's not a way to use written language to indicate that you think you're superior to other people through how you write. It took me a long time (and a few ads for cheap alcohol) to figure out that people who used British spellings weren't being pretentious snobs, but were just being, well, British.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
I find the thanksgiving holiday a bit odd.
I like it as a harvest celebration but over this century it's evolved from having a family dinner, to going across town to your parents for dinner.
Now half the nation flies across the country to do a family dinner and flies back the same weekend.
It reminds me of those sea turtles that went from island A to island B to mate. As continental drift took the islands apart, it's now a 1000 mile journey.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Anglican_Brat
Shipmate
# 12349
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Posted
Number #10 strikes me as odd considering the UK. Don't UK graduates from Oxford and Cambridge still make fun of people who did not go to the two most prestigious universities on earth?
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It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.
Posts: 4332 | From: Vancouver | Registered: Feb 2007
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
Flags and the generally overt patriotism are certainly interesting ones. Cheese galore, yes, although the Canadians might share that one. This morning in Toronto the cheese was ORANGE.
Ridiculously unhelpful money. Everyone else in the world understands the usefulness of having different colours for different denominations, but the USA is still fond of 19th century printing techniques when that was too difficult.
Calling national events things like 'international' or 'world'. American hyperbole.
Street numbering. I know there's a logic to it, but still.
I'd say the tax added to the price thing but I know the Canafians do the same. Keep forgetting.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
I love the idea of the Thanksgiving meal - but it would be a lot of hard work just before Christmas!
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
Ridiculously unhelpful money. Everyone else in the world understands the usefulness of having different colours for different denominations, but the USA is still fond of 19th century printing techniques when that was too difficult.
You can add "easily forged" to "unhelpful" as well.
I love our colourful plastic money! It's tough, has so many cool anti-counterfeit security features and was deliberately designed to aid visually impaired people by having each note a different length - which also has the side effect of making them useful in vending machines.
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If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I have a brother who moved from New Zealand to the US and Thanksgiving is his favourite holiday because of the pumpkin pie.
Mind you most Americans think he's weird because he eats Vegemite (an Australian produced Marmite-like spread).
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Most Americans really like Thanksgiving, and mostly because of the food. I've seen some argue that it's the Perfect Holiday for our postreligious, postpatriotic age—it celebrates nothing but being thankful, getting together with people we supposedly like, and eating lots and lots of food we love. Now, I'm not sure it actually works that way if you're the person who has to do all the arduous cooking (roasting a turkey isn't an easy task, especially if you only do it once a year and therefore don't know all the tricks by rote) or if, like many, you and your family don't always get along, but the food? The food abides. Nobody doesn't like pecan pie, and, even if you're an ocean away, you have to eat it on Thanksgiving Day, just because the universe might collapse if you didn't.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a sudden hankering for some turkey leg and thigh meat that I'm about six months out of season for finding. This may turn into a Quest, but y'alls have make me think about Thanksgiving foods, so it's Your Fault.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Anglican_Brat:
Number #10 strikes me as odd considering the UK. Don't UK graduates from Oxford and Cambridge still make fun of people who did not go to the two most prestigious universities on earth?
Many universities in the UK have scarves and ties. At Oxbridge and one or two others colleges or even faculties have them. There's a guy in our office building who wears a very tatty Imperial College scarf. Just as distinctive as sweatshirts and caps, but more subtle and mostly known to the in-group. All very British.
As for American cheese - just how much of it is it really cheese? The concept of 'pumpkin-flavoured' is new to me as pumpkin need a lot of help to have any flavour.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
You can add "easily forged" to "unhelpful" as well.
Actually, it is one of the most difficult to fake. But, because of its perceived value, it is one of the most commonly forged.
Beyond that yes, it is boring and unhelpful in its uniformity.
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I love these threads! There are always bits someone assumes they do, but we do not; but are wrong.
Why cheese is orange.Brits started it, the Yanks continue it.
The flag fetish is weird. Never understood that one.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
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Posted
#2 ("Being able to buy anything you want at Wal-Mart") isn't all that odd to me, because over here you can buy practically anything you want in Tesco or Asda. The only reason you can't buy guns at Tesco is because of gun control laws; otherwise, both of them are doing their best to be Everything Shops.
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Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
roasting a turkey isn't an easy task, especially if you only do it once a year
It seems to me we DO have the same festival, involving mass migration at a bad time of year, forcible forgathering with kin, waaay too much food including turkey, dire TV etc - except here it's Christmas - with the added delight of having to buy presents.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
You can add "easily forged" to "unhelpful" as well.
I love our colourful plastic money! It's tough, has so many cool anti-counterfeit security features and was deliberately designed to aid visually impaired people by having each note a different length - which also has the side effect of making them useful in vending machines. [/QB]
The US currency went through a redesign a few years back. It has a bunch of the anti-counterfeiting features such as micro-printing, additional colors, fluorescent dyes and the magic constellation that prevents copiers from scanning currency.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Signaller
Shipmate
# 17495
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Posted
Electing judicial officials.
I know you've always done it. Presumably it works somehow. But it's so wrong.
Posts: 113 | From: Metroland | Registered: Jan 2013
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
quote:
posted by signaller
Electing judicial officials.
... and then being surprised/outraged when there is judicial corruption or ineptitude. ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
I'd add: Some of the names you give your children (and some in the UK are copying); particularly Paige, Taylor, Whitney, Brooke and Jamie for girls; Travis, Tyler and Cody for boys. WHY?
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
In it's own way, the list is ethnocentric, and some items would better be called Things People In Some Countries Find Bizarre About America And Would Find Bizare About Other Places As Well If They Did A Little Research.
For example, the thing about "puritans" objecting to sex in entertainment, while embracing violence. In South Korea, p0rn movies are not allowed to show full frontal nudity. However, of the four Korean p0rn movies I have watched, three featured eroticized rape scenes.
And run-of-the-mill violence is a standard aspect of Korean action, crime, detective etc movies.
[ 31. May 2013, 09:33: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
Missed the edit window. It was "nudity", not "sex", that the article cited as something Americans had an irrational obsession with. My point still stands.
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002
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Posted
THe driving thing in point 1 is not bizarre to Australians. I suspect it's a function of US and Oz being such large countries, Ozzies will drive vast distances for relatively short stays and trivial reasons eg 12 hours each way to go to a party over a weekend.
Posts: 2871 | From: "A capsule of modernity afloat in a wild sea" | Registered: May 2004
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
On an institutional scale, the thing that I find most bizarre about the USA is that it not only lacks some kind of national (or even systematic state by state) socialised healthcare system, but that quite large numbers of people seem to have been persuaded that a socialised system would not be in their interest and should be actively resisted. Weird.
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
...over here you can buy practically anything you want in Tesco or Asda.
Well Asda IS Wal-Mart, the local one used to have Wal-Mart in big letters near the entrance. Tesco are wannabees that seem to be failing badly.
As for customs being seen as bizarre - why? One would assume that the customs of a country are there for a reason (doesn't have to be a good one) and that people like it that way or at least don't dislike it enough to do anything about it. I might find a countries customs distasteful or even wrong from my point of view but not necessarily bizarre.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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WearyPilgrim
Shipmate
# 14593
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
I have a brother who moved from New Zealand to the US and Thanksgiving is his favourite holiday because of the pumpkin pie.
Mind you most Americans think he's weird because he eats Vegemite (an Australian produced Marmite-like spread).
Huia
I was going to say . . . Brits think Americans do bizarre things, while they eat Marmite??
Posts: 383 | From: Sedgwick, Maine USA | Registered: Feb 2009
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Nobody doesn't like pecan pie, and, even if you're an ocean away, you have to eat it on Thanksgiving Day, just because the universe might collapse if you didn't.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for all the thick, gooey, pecan-pie reasons. Plus there's the dog show. Don't forget the dog show.
When my sister-in-law lived in Norway, she prepared an entire Thanksgiving dinner for some relatives and it was a big hit. We joke that this is because there is nothing in a Thanksgiving dinner to offend a Norwegian's palate.
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Do the French find eating cheese to be bizarre? This list should be called "Thirteen things a socially insulated Brit just found out last week that Americans do, and he finds them weird."
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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George Spigot
Outcast
# 253
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Posted
4. America's weird version of puritanismn is the one that stands out for me.
The cheese thing shouldn't be on that list. Loads of people like cheese. Most of the cheese in the UK is proudly named after the place it's made in.
The coffee thing. Most brits i know drink tea every chance they get.
The prom thing is weird. Not that it happens so much but they it appears to be taken so seriously!
Posts: 1625 | From: Derbyshire - England | Registered: May 2001
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by George Spigot:
The cheese thing shouldn't be on that list. Loads of people like cheese. Most of the cheese in the UK is proudly named after the place it's made in.
I've got no problem with eating lots of cheese.
But some of the things that get called cheese in the USA (and increasingly over here as well ![[Frown]](frown.gif) ) - bleh. Cheese-flavoured plastic, maybe.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
But some of the things that get called cheese in the USA (and increasingly over here as well ) - bleh. Cheese-flavoured plastic, maybe.
With you there. Also the nasty, glow-in-the-dark cheese shown in the photo is something only kids like.
And the flag thing, I will grant. Americans are stupid about the flag.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras
Shipmate
# 11274
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
I love the idea of the Thanksgiving meal - but it would be a lot of hard work just before Christmas!
Thanksgiving in Canada is more sensibly placed in October rather than the end of November.
In the USA, Thanksgiving has long functioned as the beginning of the secular Christmas season. Indeed, those who don't follow liturgical church customs often put up their Christmas trees on Thanksgiving weekend, and of course it is also an enormous shopping weekend that is meant to kick off the Christmas spend-fest.
I am one of those few Americans who actively dislikes Thanksgiving. It was a relief when we lived in the UK and didn't have to worry about the holiday at all.
Posts: 7328 | From: Delaware | Registered: Apr 2006
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Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras
Shipmate
# 11274
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
On an institutional scale, the thing that I find most bizarre about the USA is that it not only lacks some kind of national (or even systematic state by state) socialised healthcare system, but that quite large numbers of people seem to have been persuaded that a socialised system would not be in their interest and should be actively resisted. Weird.
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
Posts: 7328 | From: Delaware | Registered: Apr 2006
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lietuvos Sv. Kazimieras:
Thanksgiving in Canada is more sensibly placed in October rather than the end of November.
Hear. Having a harvest festival a month and a half after all has been gathered safely in is ridiculous.
quote:
In the USA, Thanksgiving has long functioned as the beginning of the secular Christmas season.
Indeed that's why it was moved to its current location in the first place. Now that the Christmas shopping season starts the day after Halloween (if not before), we should move Thanksgiving back to the first weekend in November.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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PaulBC
Shipmate
# 13712
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Posted
The idolatry attached the US national flag And I use Idolatry because in my view the flag gets treat as if it was divinely given. It is just cloth people . And the way civilians go hends over heart during national anthems . The most this Canadian would do is to stand at attention.
And Americans seem to take themselves way to seriously. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) ![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif)
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"He has told you O mortal,what is good;and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice and to love kindness ,and to walk humbly with your God."Micah 6:8
Posts: 873 | From: Victoria B.C. Canada | Registered: May 2008
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PaulBC:
Americans seem to take themselves way to seriously.
WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Prester John
Shipmate
# 5502
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Posted
I confess to being very serious about correct spelling.
Posts: 884 | From: SF Bay Area | Registered: Feb 2004
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Anselmina
Ship's barmaid
# 3032
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Do the French find eating cheese to be bizarre?
So long as it is 'proper' cheese, ie French cheese of course not! Food created and consumed anywhere outside of the French republic naturally doesn't count as 'proper' food at all, remember! I understand our French chums still believe they are tops when it comes to cuisine.
I half admire the American super-duper white smile, and wouldn't mind one myself, having been an early victim of 'the NHS school dentist'. Though it is a little scary close-up. I rather miss all those old films and celebrities where people's mouths had character and individuality. These days all celebs, and increasingly UK ones, too, have these huge monster glow-in-the-dark gnashers; it makes your own jaw ache in sympathy. I'm just jealous, of course. I find it very distracting in a film trying to 'believe' in a character who has obviously had at least €45,000 worth of dental work!
I'm also in awe of the huge distances many Americans travel in the normal course of things. I travel 350 miles to get 'home' to visit family, and it's considered a gargantuan journey to be attempted maybe once or twice a year; and only if I'm staying for more than a week or so to 'make it worth it'. I believe US cars have cruise control on them for long distances? And maybe cars bought in the British Isles have this function, too. But you'd need to join the islands together to even get a head start with cruise control!
Thanksgiving Day seems like a wonderful idea, and surely one of the best customs of the USA.
Posts: 10002 | From: Scotland the Brave | Registered: Jul 2002
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by the giant cheeseburger:
quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
Ridiculously unhelpful money. Everyone else in the world understands the usefulness of having different colours for different denominations, but the USA is still fond of 19th century printing techniques when that was too difficult.
You can add "easily forged" to "unhelpful" as well.
I love our colourful plastic money! It's tough, has so many cool anti-counterfeit security features and was deliberately designed to aid visually impaired people by having each note a different length - which also has the side effect of making them useful in vending machines.
I thoroughly enjoy showing Australian notes to Americans. Showed one of the staff in my last hotel. She loved it. Colours! Lengths! She wanted to find someone to write to and ask 'why aren't we doing this'?
Also, the pennies are annoying me after years of no copper coins.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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passer
Indigo
# 13329
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Posted
A pitiful 11th in the cheese-eating league, according to this American survey.
The flag thing is (per thread title) Bizarre. Comes across as a bit insular and insecure.
The teeth presumably divert attention from other bodily characteristics. Nothing looks more unnatural than fluorescently white gnashers.
Posts: 1289 | From: Sheffield | Registered: Jan 2008
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Electing judicial officials.
I know you've always done it. Presumably it works somehow. But it's so wrong.
Oh yes. Forgot that one!
Which is not to say that appointment processes can't be a bit corrupt, but judges with security of tenure tend to focus on making correct decisions, not popular ones. One populist branch of government is quite enough, we don't need the judiciary doing it too.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
Showed one of fthe staff in my last hotel. She loved it. Colours! Lengths! She wanted to find someone to write to and ask 'why aren't we doing this'?
Saw this part first. Missed first sentence. Context is everything.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by Anglican_Brat:
Number #10 strikes me as odd considering the UK. Don't UK graduates from Oxford and Cambridge still make fun of people who did not go to the two most prestigious universities on earth?
Many universities in the UK have scarves and ties. At Oxbridge and one or two others colleges or even faculties have them. There's a guy in our office building who wears a very tatty Imperial College scarf. Just as distinctive as sweatshirts and caps, but more subtle and mostly known to the in-group. All very British. ...
Dear me, I call that pretty feeble. ![[Biased]](wink.gif) In the USA, every dinky college - not just the big schools - is a factory for millions of dollars worth of scarves, sweatshirts, hats, stadium cushions, bumper stickers, cheerleaders, noisemakers, foamy fingers, affinity credit cards, beer coolers, license plate frames, basketball teams, football teams, hockey teams, volleyball teams, coaches making more money than professors, and sooo much more. Not subtle.
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"You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean." -- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
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seekingsister
Shipmate
# 17707
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Posted
Having been on both sides, I don't think the alma mater obsession is that weird compared to the obsession the English have with their football teams. A place you studied, spent 4 years, maybe played sports at yourself, vs. the club your dad likes or the one in your area that is actually full of players from Brazil or Nigeria?
Posts: 1371 | From: London | Registered: May 2013
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
I've only visited the USA once, about 15 years ago. I enjoyed it; it challenged many of my prejudices although it confirmed others.
The bizarreness about driving habits that I noticed was not the long distances thing (that is understandable) but the seeming inability of Americans to walk anywhere. We once stayed at a motel at a crossroads; diagonally opposite was a diner. The road was surrounded by crash barriers with no gaps or pedestrian crossings to be seen. When we asked the motel people how to get to the diner they replied with complicated directions, clearly assuming we were planning to drive there. It was only across the road for God's sake!
And 'cheese'! We were warned about a particular cheese that it was 'very strong'. It tasted like mild Cheddar on a bad day.
But the friendliness of people, and the genuine welcome we got in diners, shops and such like, put British standoffishness to shame. Unfortunately in this country businesses have now adopted a bastardised commercial bonhomie which sounds incredibly false and is so unlike the American style it is modelled on.
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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!
Posts: 12927 | From: The Pool of Life | Registered: May 2001
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
Well when it comes to American style friendliness, I find the urge to have me on first name terms with my waiter bizarre. But then, they really want me to tip them. It's personal servant hood. I thought this was the land of the free? Down in convict land meanwhile, my waiter is not 'my' waiter and he/she is just a person doing his/her job.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
quote:
Originally posted by Signaller:
Electing judicial officials.
It's so wrong.
Oh yes. Forgot that one!
Which is not to say that appointment processes can't be a bit corrupt
In Arizona, so backward in many other regards (an effort to force a recall election of a certain notoriously bigoted and racist sheriff, for example, has just failed), many counties actually do the judicial officials thing right.
Judges are appointed by a commission, but their continued tenure in office after a certain length of time is subject to ratification by the voters.
One problem, though, is that the voters may not know who they're voting for. It's hard to decide, for example, "Shall the Hon. Cynthia Figtree continue to serve as appellate judge of the Superior Court (Y/N)?" if the public has no inkling of who Judge Figree is or what her record has been.
Me, I always vote "No" on all such questions on the theory that they've had their turn, now it's time to let someone else have a job for a change.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
George Spigot wrote:
quote:
4. America's weird version of puritanismn is the one that stands out for me.
In fairness, I think the American taboo against displays of nudity only really applies to television, movies, and other public displays. I doubt there's any shortage of nudity in American art books, medical textbooks etc, to say nothing of p0rnography.
And in defense of America's liberal credentials, as far as I know, their film classification system is a voluntary one, run by the Motion Picture Association Of America, not the government, as in many other places. Though I think this was possibly set up because the government was breathing down Hollywood's neck in the 1960s. Basically, they censor themselves, in lieu of the state threatening to do so.
[ 31. May 2013, 15:41: Message edited by: Stetson ]
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Higgs Bosun
Shipmate
# 16582
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Posted
Number 4 in the list is one which I also find odd. In America, there is a strange prudery coupled with an acceptance of violence. It was crystallised for me some years ago (probably 1997) when flying back from the USA. There were two films on the flight.
The first was The Rock (Sean Connery, Nicholas Cage). There was quite a lot of violence, including a point when something large falls on a baddy, whose legs stick out and twitch. "Is that normal?" asks Nicholas Cage. That's OK for kids etc.
The second was Kingpin (Woody Harrelson). At one point in this the heroine - wearing a tight fitting white dress - enters a walk-in fridge to get a drink, and emerges. Something has happened to a chest area, but this is pixelated. From the dialogue, I assumed that parts of her frontal anatomy had reacted to the cold by becoming, er, more prominent. But this was deemed unsuitable for the viewers on the plane.
There seems to be something deeply odd, even wrong, in values here.
Posts: 313 | From: Near the Tidal Thames | Registered: Aug 2011
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Higgs Bosun:
There seems to be something deeply odd, even wrong, in values here.
This is true. The "violence good, human body bad" thing has reached bizarre levels. Josephine and I would (back when it was applicable) look at online reviews of movies, and refuse to let the kids go if there was a lot of violence, but were very permissive if the rating were merely based on T&A.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
I have dual nationality which means I am constantly laughing at myself....
My family celebrate Thanksgiving (which I don't think is bizarre,it's a lovely holiday) with lots of yummy food but the thing I do find bizarre is how much sugar is called for in my time honoured family recipes (both sweet and savoury). I've spent most of my adult life trying to adapt the recipes to reduce the sugar.
Maybe there's a connection with the teeth?
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"It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
MrsBeaky: I have dual nationality which means I am constantly laughing at myself....
Nice.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
One of the biggest reasons that Thanksgiving is such a popular holiday, istm, is the four day weekend and the possibilities that allows.
And Vegemite/Marmite tastes great. We always have keep a jar in the pantry.
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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Mere Nick
Shipmate
# 11827
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Soror Magna:
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by Anglican_Brat:
Number #10 strikes me as odd considering the UK. Don't UK graduates from Oxford and Cambridge still make fun of people who did not go to the two most prestigious universities on earth?
Many universities in the UK have scarves and ties. At Oxbridge and one or two others colleges or even faculties have them. There's a guy in our office building who wears a very tatty Imperial College scarf. Just as distinctive as sweatshirts and caps, but more subtle and mostly known to the in-group. All very British. ...
Dear me, I call that pretty feeble. In the USA, every dinky college - not just the big schools - is a factory for millions of dollars worth of scarves, sweatshirts, hats, stadium cushions, bumper stickers, cheerleaders, noisemakers, foamy fingers, affinity credit cards, beer coolers, license plate frames, basketball teams, football teams, hockey teams, volleyball teams, coaches making more money than professors, and sooo much more. Not subtle.
College football and basketball are very big. While most folks that like college football also appear to like pro football, most folks I know follow ACC basketball with a passion but don't give a crap about the NBA.
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"Well that's it, boys. I've been redeemed. The preacher's done warshed away all my sins and transgressions. It's the straight and narrow from here on out, and heaven everlasting's my reward."
Delmar O'Donnell
Posts: 2797 | From: West Carolina | Registered: Sep 2006
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