It's the Fourth of July. Say Something Good About America.

I don't think it's a big deal to be honest. It's no different from a kid declaring his mom is the most beautiful woman in the world. It may not be an objective truth but it can be a subjective one.



I know what you mean, I was right around 11 when I first set foot in America as well.

Yeah - like smothering any Mexican dish in what is usually processed cheese- not even real cheese.
I was so surprised (and pleased) when I went to Mexico and found out that cheese is not the main ingredient in most Mexican dishes. I'm not a huge fan of hard cheeses- even melted-although I love all the other staples of mexican food - so when I went to Mexico and had the tortillas, beans, rice, vegetables and spices presented minus the huge gloppy mass of cheese on top - I thought I'd landed in heaven.
They have good fruit too.

My two favorite countries to live in are England and the US - but those are the only two I've lived in (maybe that's why).
What I mean is that of all the countries I've visited - I'm happy that I've had the opportunity to live in England and the US as opposed to feeling that I'd have liked to live in any other country.
I think it's good to think that where you're living is the best place to live - otherwise you'd be pretty wistful and/or unhappy wanting to be somewhere else.

We may all agree with that, but be near violent in identifying
which r the flaws (e.g.: non-fonetic spelling)
and what deserves higher praise.





David

Thanks for putting these thoughts in front of us Robert.
Having lived in various other countries, they ring true. I too immigrated when I was 10 years old and can understand Merry's pride.

Now if I can just turn my giant lawn into a xeriscaped treasure, I can stop mowing it twice a week and enjoy some leisure time

When I was 8, I emigrated from New York to Arizona.





David

must have been culture shock....


for the Arizonans

My uncle had a quarrel with his father (my grandfather) when he was 12,
over proper English table manners. He took a libertarian point of vu.
My grandfather did not. He hurled my uncle out of the house.

However, my uncle had been born in New York,
during a year 's honeymoon thay had here in 1900.
Accordingly, he was an American citizen, by birthright.

He told me that he got on a ship to New York.
About 15 years thereafter, the rest of my family,
including my mother followed him to NY.

By reason of his immigration, I am an American, not an Englishman.
As a subject of the King of England, my mother had to be naturalized
to acquire her American citizenship.

I am very glad --thrilled-- that thay had that fight
and that my uncle stuck to his guns.





David

I am very pleased, existentially so,
that he did not choose to take the Titanic.





David

Why?

Admittedly, America is degenerating into a despotism
(e.g. criminal and civil forfeiture of one 's property)
and will do worse with a Marxist at the helm, but England
is more fundamentally an authoritarian polity, having its
basis in a military dictatorship of 1066. Now its subjects,
those held in subjection, have what personal freedom
its legislature feels like throwing to them like the dogs
behind King Henry VIII, to whom he threw bones at his
banquets. It is not at all satisfactory to preservation
of individual rights that voters elect that legislature.


In America, at least in theory government
is very limited by individuals who were quite stingy
in granting it jurisdiction at the time of its creation,
knowing that the domestic powers of government
and personal liberty are INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL.

The relation between the citizens and their created government
is supposed to resemble the relation between owners of real estate
and their hired help to take care of the place on a day-to-day basis.

As a libertarian anti-communitarian hedonist, I take pride in how
the Bill of Rights cripples and strangles government 37 different ways,
operating to the glory and benefit of Individual freedom.

That 's Y





David

I like NPR. Its reporting is well-researched, its comments intelligent, its talk shows interesting and engaging. (Some day, if I can muster the courage, I'll ask Terry Gross if she'll marry me.) I also like that NPR is financed mostly by private contributions. Every six months or so, they write me a nice letter asking me if I'd like to contribute something. Usually I do. A week later, I get another friendly letter from them saying "thank you."

You Americans may not see what's so special about this, so let me tell you how this works in my old country.

In Germany, if you own a TV, a radio, or even just a networked computer, you have to pay a contribution to the government-run radio and TV stations whether you watch them or not. They have an organization called GEMA, kind of an IRS for the radio and TV contributions. If you don't pay, GEMA will presume that you're a free rider until you prove to them that you're not. They will send you threatening letters every half year or so, telling you to pay up or identify yourself as a non-owner of a TV or radio. If you know your rights, you know you don't have to, and you usually won't. Why would you prove to any company that you are not their customer? But most people I know don't really know their rights, so they cave in.

For about seven years of my life, I owned neither a radio nor a TV set, so I didn't answer GEMA's letters. Consequently, every year or so, I got a visit from two official-looking representatives. They would ask me if I owned a radio or TV. When I said "no", they gave me the Important Government Official Stare (TM), threw around some official-sounding words, and asked if they could look around in my apartment. Knowing my rights, I answered, "sure -- can I see your search warrant please?". That made them shrug and buzz off. You see, they're not police. No judge would give them a warrant if they asked for one. So they just play a game of pretending to be law enforcement without technically saying so, and see if they get away with it. They usually do. Over the decades, they have polished their shtick to perfection. And since most people neither know nor care about their rights, they tend to cave in, and the Very Important GEMA Officials get their way.

To be sure, Germany isn't Communist Russia. We do have the right not to answer to GEMA, and Germany's public TV and radio stations are definitely worth paying for. But, I prefer the way Americans run their public media. I prefer my letters friendly, and I appreciate the warm fuzzy feeling that rewards me every time I contribute to my local NPR station.

So that's one thing I like about America. Coming up on July 4th 2010: Baby diapering tables in men's restrooms. If you're a man, and if you're carrying around a toddler who needs a new diaper, you needn't use the ladies' room to change them! The possibilities in America are truly limitless!

How was public radio funded in Germany
from 1933 - 1945 ?

you're not interested...just a cheap shot at a man celebrating the love for his adopted country

How do YOU know whether I am "interested"? Some nerve.

Do u claim to be a mind reader ?


I wanna know.

david, that was trite and more than just a bit rude.

Just a wild guess, but then again I wouldn't expect you admit that i was right



What I thought when I saw your post



No... I'm a David-reader...a whole lot less effort than being a mind reader.

Trite or not, I wanna know and there 's nothing rong in asking.

I don't know for sure. I guess it would have been financed in the same way, and that the Reichspost (Postal Service) would have administered the payments.

i'll bet it sounded more like rush limbaugh than npr

Passion runs in many different directions.