Truths and inspirations for 16 July 2024
If something's hard to see or read, click to enlarge.
My hope for these posts is that they will provoke thinking, not mere agreement or disagreement. If I can get you to consider even one idea which you would not previously have entertained, or which would not previously have occurred to you, then I've succeeded in what I'm trying to do.
(For the link round-up, click here.)
Like it or not, tens of millions of voters feel this way. Stop lecturing, start listening.
Only the euro even approaches being competitive with the dollar as an international currency -- and even that only on its own home turf. The Chinese and Russian currencies are negligible.
Made by Pliny.
The only event in US gay history that resembled an intifada was the Pulse nightclub mass murder.
Made by Pliny.
My hope for these posts is that they will provoke thinking, not mere agreement or disagreement. If I can get you to consider even one idea which you would not previously have entertained, or which would not previously have occurred to you, then I've succeeded in what I'm trying to do.
(For the link round-up, click here.)
posted by Infidel753 at 12:36 AM
8 Comments:
That's an interesting pie-chart about Brits and religion. My suspicion is a lot depends (or did) on how questions are worded. A lot of people (in the recentish past) had vague ideas and might identify as "broadly Christian" or some codswallop like that. What I suspect has changed is that it is much more acceptable to just say you have no religion. Is this due to folks like Dawkins? Probably. But not exactly in the way that he might like. He can come over as rather condescending but he has certainly raised the debate. The truth is we have not been a particularly religiously active society for quite some time. The dear old CofE is pretty moribund and World-class at fence-sitting. It is tolerated as an official religion because it looks after nice old buildings and is essentially irrelevant. Much like the monarchy.
I perhaps have more time for religion than you do Infidel because, basically, in England (unlike the USA) it doesn't really matter. I very much doubt anything like Project 2025 would gain any traction in this country. I mean we just had a Hindu PM and nobody actively gave a toss about that. Maybe some Muslims in Bradford but they get upset over almost anything. So Sunak gets the boot. That had more to do with the Tories having run their course than anything to do with Rishi.
There are many significant differences between our countries but the USA has always stunned me with it's religiousness.
That has been true for a long time. One of the things that most startled my parents when they immigrated here was the fact that people often asked them what church they attended. At that time it was just a common social question here, but back in Britain nobody would have asked such a thing. Religion just didn't come up much. And that was back in the 1950s.
Infidel, I knew you had a "bit of a thing" about the UK but I didn't know you were that recent an American if you catch my drift. D'ya mind if I ask "where from?". I have personal reasons for this - in a way. I'm from Gateshead, originally. I have lived elsewhere for the last thirty years, mainly around Manchester. Some (very few, but some) folks round here spot my accent isn't exactly Manc. I also don't walk like a Manc. Nobody but a Manc does...
This might be of interest to you...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-13627869/Americans-tourists-favourite-places-england-bath-york-lincoln-cornwall.html
I'm glad they liked Newcastle (the city of my birth - Gateshead is just over the Tyne). I can't agree about York which is a bit of a tourist trap - Lancaster is much better. They are right about Manchester. It is diverse. And Affleck's Palace is worth it. The Cathedral less so. Actually Newcastle has a better cathedral. Many years ago the Jocks were besieging Newcastle and they issued an ultimatum. Surrender or we'll shell your cathedral. The defenders marched POWs to the top of the cathedral tower (which is beautiful and unusaual) and said "Do it!" That bought enough time for reinforcements to rout the Haggis Army. Not for the first or last time.
Fortunately the SNP were routed at the recent election. Partially due to corruption and partially due to Scotland's stance on trans issues. Yeah, I know you have men wearing skirts but...
People are so offended by everything these days.
It's not right that a child who is raped has to go through a pregnancy and have the child because of the abortion laws that are now in place. It's just crazy.
My internet is finally fixed after 10 days of being without it and I am making my way through everyone's blog again.
NickM: I am American -- I was born here -- but I grew up in a home steeped in British culture, and the family took many trips to the UK and spent considerable time there when I was a child. So I grew up with a mixed accent which, to this day, causes a lot of people to assume I'm British.
My mother was from Sheffield, father was from Peterborough.
It's interesting that the Americans quoted in the Daily Mail mentioned easily getting into conversation with people in Newcastle. The family passed through Newcastle during one of our visits there, and it was honestly very difficult to understand what people were saying because the local accent was so unusual. I suppose over time education has brought the various local accents closer to standard.
The Lincoln cathedral pictured in the article looks awesome. This kind of old monumental architecture is something we are very lacking in the US. It's one of the most striking things about Europe, how much of it there is everywhere. I still have vivid memories of visiting the Köln cathedral in 1984. There is more to see in western Europe than you could see in a lifetime.
Mary K: A lot of people still think taking offense gives them the moral high ground, though in fact most people are getting fed up with having to walk on eggshells all the time because of the perpetually offended people. And, well, it's kind of fun taking offense (see the Dostoevsky quote I posted two weeks ago).
A thirteen-year-old being forced to have a rapist's baby is an absolute atrocity. But that's what the Republicans now stand for. That's what I believe will decide the whole upcoming election.
Glad to hear your internet is fixed. That must have been frustrating.
Lincoln Cathedral is well worth a visit. What is stunning is quite how flat the area is an then you get THAT!
Geordie is not easy. But then for me the Birmingham accent doesn't even sound like English.
I assume accents in the USA vary much more than I hear but I doubt they do over such short distances as they do in England. During the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper a "joker" from Sunderland sent in a tape recording claiming the crimes. It was taken seriously. They got professional linguists to isolate the accent to a specific set of streets in Sunderland which is not a large town.
We English do accents (and vocab) in spades.
As always, you make me think 🤔, and you make me laugh. Thanks for that, and of course I may have to steal a few memes😅 Sending lots of hugs. 🤗 RO
NickM: I really think the accents in the US vary a lot less than in England. The degree of accent and dialect variation in a country seems to depend on how long the language has been spoken there, not on how big the country is. There are distinctive accents in the South and a few places in the northeast, and a few cases of different words for things in different parts of the country (like "soda" vs "pop"), but it would probably take a real expert to tell the difference between Seattle English and Chicago English, even though those places are further apart than London and Moscow.
Ro: Thanks! Glad you're still around. I miss your posts.
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