Nothing better than a guy with an English accent saying " And here come the rednecks."--
That was really funny--Borat better watch out.

The US is really a study in contrasts. I doubt very much from your posts that this applies to you - but many of my European friends who know the US only superficially tend to view it all as somehow the same. But no country of which I'm aware contains greater extremes - intellectually, culturally, socially, politically, geographically, financially - on just about any level you care to name.

Rural Alabama is as different from the Upper East Side as rural Iraq is from Paris.

It's always difficult to generalize about America and things American when you are there.

Equally, it becomes much easier to generalize about America when you are not actually there, because all one tends to see is the ugly side of America abroad: it's consistent foreign policy disasters; it's military adventurism; it's truly corrupt administration; the infantile media - led abroad by CNN and USA Today; and the cheap and nasty pop-culture and bad taste projected abroad - to say nothing of the hordes of overweight tourists dressed in shorts, baseball caps and fanny packs who genuinely have no idea whether they are in Brussels or Budapest.

It's very easy to see the US one dimensionally from abroad as simply a $hitty place. I have a couple of good European friends for example - who have travelled to every corner of the globe - except the US. You couldn't drag them to the US.

So from where I sit the US is a paradox: it seems to have the best and the worst of everything. In many areas - truly the worst. And in many areas - truly the best. It is a nation of extremes from which the middle - the cohesive common ground - seems to be slipping away.

End of rant.

Re: Re: Re: top gear in Alabama
 

I dunno, seems like the last time a Brit on US soil said 'you must obey the law' it didn't work out so well.

Oh and Jeremy seems to have forgotten that he'd be speaking German if some of those Alabama boy's granddaddys hadn't stepped in a few decades ago and saved the day.

Please tell us of your Alabama expertise. I can only surmise that "Lotus Land" is either the U.K. or Japan, so I wonder how you know so much about the southern U.S..

Ditto on Tikrit

I can't wait for his reply. I have lived all over the United States and rarely find the level of ignorance he put on display.

well , doubt it, if anything , it would be Russian rather then German... Hitler vs Stalin , and no US intervention , my money would have been on Stalin...

either way , in the end , Battle of Britain is above all the thing that saved Britain, and Britain beeing saved was crucial to "allow" anybody to use it as a staging ground... without that staging ground, again, we (euro folks not you ) would probably be speaking Russian by now...

either way , i'm pretty sure that the debt for WW2 has long been payed off, if it isn't , well , send me the picture of your whereabouts during D-Day... without that, i'm afraid you have zero credibility as a debt collector

das vidanja tovarich!

Dottore, your rant was somehow what i meant
i was simply doing reverse logic relating to some others who do the same generalizations towards Europe.... just like the one i just rebutted... the one about debt..

So, stay away from road signs. I've had beer bottle tossed at me as well and I'm a Texan.
If you are acting/dressed in a way that is not along with the society's norm then you will recieve extra attention. Where ever you may be, EU, Irag, Denmark, Honduras or even in the deep South.

I thought the spot that JC did was entertaining but many things can be edited for the desired effect. Wouldn't be much of a show without some conflict.

This must be the experience I requested. I missed it 1st time around. Now I've narrowed your country of origin to the U.K. Am I correct?

Might I ask, when was this trip?

Yawn, late for 2 world wars and early for the 3rd?
Russia would have seen off the Germans on there own eventually. I think the debt has been repaid with Korea, 2 Gulf Wars and the halting of Communism .

Thanks for the revisionist's take on history as you know it.

:rolleyes:

Now keep your "Man Lovin" Lymies where they belong, pushing rusty minnies through their paces in the rain on the wrong side of the road.

:D

Regarding your points:
a-Yes, it does seem we're working on front row seats for the 3rd.

b-Probably not before the UK became a German outpost.

c-Where was repayment mentioned? I never used the word 'debt'

Seriously, we're all a lot more alike than some of us admit. You can bring out the worst in any culture if you push the right buttons.

I think Clarkeson is funny. I like most of his stuff. Problem is, some folks don't know he's kidding. (He is kidding right?) ;)

Bob, he was kidding. I've never been to America but that seriously put me off.
How can the USA go around the globe trying to install democracy when you dont even have freedom of speech in your own country. My first reaction to the petrol station owner was 'pathetic' . But she was kidding right?

"In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from."

- Peter Ustinov

The film was funny, the reaction and ensuing thread here is simple priceless. P.T. Barnum must be giggling in his grave; I'll bet he's a fan.

He's right, of course. These two hooked up at www.e-harmony.com/alabama

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171319892.jpg

Does Dr. Phil know about this?

I hope you're kidding about being put off by that. THAT is what I fear happens when people like Clarkeson make such episodes. Some people will think all of Alabama, or even all of America is represented by a few.

Not that we as Americans are exempt from that. A group of zealots flies some planes into our buildings and we invade a country. Nothing new there sadly. I don't agree with a LOT of our politics, but I love my country and I love being an American. It's a great country. I believe we need to learn a lot more about our adversaries. Maybe then they can be our friends.

That said, Man's biggest failing is to understand the mindset of those other than himself. I believe that Americans do not have the corner on that market, but rather, it's a world wide affliction.

And no-she was not kidding.