Britain - The Official Thread

[Keef]

I realize we live in civilized times where people can have peaceful arguments or laugh off disagreements and be friends. But I've realized something that I think is true within the last couple years, and especially recently with this whole gun debate thing. I believe there is a deep emotional divide between Americans and Britons. Maybe it's forged at a young age through our education when we learned about fighting the British and the reasons we did so. The core principals that Americans founded their country on are very different than the beliefs of British people from the past or the present. I think that these American beliefs are so core to our existence that when they're questioned the debate will eventually get heated and emotional. It's likely that the American will get angry and very serious (maybe not in Morgan's case but I digress). I've actually heard that reaction called neanderthalic by people I know.

I think that the cooperation of Americans and British in society or in government is a front, honestly. When you get down to it, I think Americans and British simply don't get along. That doesn't mean the people of our nations can't work together and be friendly but discussion of each other's core beliefs should probably be avoided unless you're really into bar fights. My state of Ohio has decided that it's okay to carry a gun into a bar as long as you aren't drinking.

 

[Famine]

Can we have some kind of warning before being forced to see Piers Morgan's face? We thought getting him 6,000 miles away was enough.

Also, Piers Morgan isn't British, he's a nob. Nothing he says is the attitude of the British, it's the attitude of nobs.

 

[Liquid]

And it's not like anybody with sense agrees with Britain England's history of opression.

We have awful history stories which we gloss over just as much as the United States does. The independence of the 13 colonies just happens to be one of those stories. We're not taught about the genocides of Cromwell, William I and Edward I. Or the expulsion of the Jews in the 12th century. Or how William III's ascention to the throne was a militant revolution. Or our awful treatment of the Irish. Or how we put Robert Mugabe in power.

Piers Morgan can fall down a well for all I care. He needs to kick that nasty oxygen habit he has.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Piers Morgan emodies everything that is wrong with the way the left thinks. If you watch his show, every question he asks is phrased in such a way that no matter how you answer it as a conservative, you fail. There's always a hidden subtext or premise contained within the question, or the premise is so outlandish it simply makes no sense to a rational person. This is how liberals think. There is no logic, there is no larger issue, there is nothing but their own little bubble of what they think and believe and they will go ahead and do what they think is right for you and me, regardless of any other consequences that may come along with their actions, especially financial consequences, which seem to mean nothing to them. Tax The Rich!!! solves everything to them.

I especially love the part about the guy attacked by the mob with a tire iron. Apparently 7 on 1, the 7 having a tire iron and the 1 having no weapon at all. The guy lived, so Piers with his 20/20 perfect hindsight says, "The guy lived, should someone have pulled out a gun and shot people?" obviously baiting the interviewee and wanting them to say yes because he disagreed.

YES!! I can guarantee you if I was the 1, and I had a gun, I would have been fired a single warning shot and then started blazing away if they continued to advance. Newsflash Piers. When you are attacked in the middle of the night by an angry mob with a deadly weapon, you can't look ahead and say, "Oh I'll probably survive so I better not shoot anyone" You don't know what the outcome is going to be, so you defend yourself to the best of your ability.

 

[Famine]

Morgan's neither left nor liberal. He's whatever it pays him the most to say this week. He'd sell your life for a Snickers (or, more likely, a good old British Kraft Dairy Milk bar) because he's a nasty, odious leak of human vomit - and thus the perpetual exception to the trolley problem if he's one person you'd kill.

If you want to see good TV with Piers Morgan on it, watch HIGNFY when he gets ripped apart by Ian Hislop and then, trying to appeal to the audience (because as an editor for a grimy rag, he believed he was a man of the people), gets torn apart by them too.

 

[counter345]

Piers Morgan emodies everything that is wrong with the way the left thinks.

I don't like that generalization and I'm sure a lot of lefties won't like it, either.

I'm considered "left" yet I think that man spouts utter tripe.

 

[homeforsummer]

I don't like that generalization and I'm sure a lot of lefties won't like it, either.

Sadly, the default position when someone disagrees with your ideals is to blame it on the opposing political view. "Lefties" "Liberals" "Right-wingers" etc. Easier to blame your issues on someone else than to think too hard about the actual problem.

In this case, the actual problem is simply that Piers Morgan is a Berkshire Hunt, and his position has absolutely nothing to do with his political compass. The political sniping is utterly irrelevant in this instance.

 

[DK]

Can we have some kind of warning before being forced to see Piers Morgan's face?

I feel the same way about a conservative Catholic columnist in one of the national broadsheets here.

 

[Keef]

I'm glad to see our hatred is shared and I'm especially happy to see it written in British - it's much funnier that way. Perhaps I'm an example of a simple American getting emotional when their core beliefs were being attacked? Maybe.

And I'm excited to see *Piers get outsmarted by women. Since when did they get a say in anything? And he still couldn't win - what a nancy boy.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Piers is the nobmeister-general.

I think that the cooperation of Americans and British in society or in government is a front, honestly. When you get down to it, I think Americans and British simply don't get along. That doesn't mean the people of our nations can't work together and be friendly but discussion of each other's core beliefs should probably be avoided unless you're really into bar fights. My state of Ohio has decided that it's okay to carry a gun into a bar as long as you aren't drinking.

Personally, I find Americans on the internet can be to frustration, what smashing your face though one hundred glass table tops is to pain. Which is a shame, because pretty much everyone I've met in the 5 states I've been to have been genuinely really nice, mostly they shame many aspects of British politeness, service and hospitality, and I've made some good friends over there. Even the NY bartender that called us "****** English P***s*" every time we ordered a drink out ranks pretty much every other bartender I've been served by here! Guess I shouldn't judge a nation by its Bimmerpost users.

 

[Pagey279]

 

[axletramp]

I'm sure Piers Morgan produces slime like a slug which has to be scrubbed off before any TV appearance.

I actually find him witty, erudite, insightful and charming... no, wait... that's how he makes everyone else look who's standing next to him...

...including Jim Davidson!

 

[Monatsende]

Looking at Jeremy Clarkson.

As a (German) fan of Top Gear (probably the best car related TV show) I`d like to ask some British fans:

Do Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond und James May hate or admire German engineering aka German cars (Well, Hammond obviously is a Porsche fanboy...)?

As non native speaker I`m not 100% sure if I get all "interline notes". Plus there is an overlayed translation soundtrack in German.
Translation could be a bit faulty in a certain way when it comes to irony, sarcasm and stuff like that.
Soundtrack makes it impossible to hear original comments 100%.

 

[axletramp]

Hasn't Clarkson got (or used to have) an SLS?

 

[E28]

Hasn't Clarkson got (or used to have) an SLS?

Think he has a Mercedes of some kind, probably an AMG.

I'd say they tend to like German cars, although wouldn't hesitate to give one a bad review. Hammond is a Porsche fan and Clarkson certainly likes the new M135i judging by his review.

 

[Pagey279]

Clarkson has a CLK63 AMG I think, or did have anyway.
He is a big fan of Mercedes', Hammond loves Porsches, and all 3 massively rate the new BMW range. Particularly the M line as you would expect. From watching the programs Hammond also quite likes fast Audi's. May is less keen on Mercedes but like Hammond loves Porsche.
So overall yes I would say they do admire German cars, quite a lot in fact.

 

[priesty_lfc]

Is the AMG model the same as the Black or are they separate?

He had/has the Black version anyway.

 

[E28]

Is the AMG model the same as the Black or are they separate?

A Black is essentially a faster, crazier version of an AMG.

 

[axletramp]

An AMG goes brrrarp! when you change gear and a Black goes...

BRRRAAAARRRRRPP!!!!

That's all you need to know.

So is everyone in the UK either off work or school?

 

[Lizard]

So is everyone in the UK either off work or school?

Nope college is still running.

 

[E28]

So is everyone in the UK either off work or school?

I'm off school, and my parents are off work. Which is good, because we can't get anywhere as none of the roads around here are gritted, snowdrifts everywhere, and the motorway which is sort of essential for getting anywhere is closed.

 

[Carbonox]

I would somewhat expect any country further north than Africa to properly prepare themselves for snowy days...

 

[homeforsummer]

I work from home anyway so snow doesn't affect me. That said, I'd actually have preferred more snow than we're getting at the moment. At the moment, it's enough for all the drivers to freak out about it and drive everywhere at 10mph, but not enough for everywhere to be closed and leaving the roads nice and empty.

 

[Moglet]

I would somewhat expect any country further north than Africa to properly prepare themselves for snowy days...

We would if we could afford to We only really get 3-4 days of snow a year, if that, so it's never considered that important until it happens. It's not as bad as people make it out to be really, it's just the British generally can't drive in snowy conditions as they genuinely don't know what to do. The amount of people I see driving round with their foot flat to the floor, wheels spinning madly, is ridiculous and it seems to happen more and more each year.

 

[PeterJB]

Campus is closed, so I'm spending the day in currently empty flat, as my three flatmates are all stranded at home.

 

[axletramp]

Isn't 'home' the flat?

 

[PeterJB]

'Home' is their houses. I'm in halls, but I don't really consider it home.

 

[Famine]

I thought I'd mention this first story as a baseline for another one.

Taxi driver who mowed down a cyclist then drove another 300 feet with him on the bonnet, hitting roadsigns and then a tree, fined £35 and given 3pt on his licence.

So, with actually killing someone and then continuing to drive until you smash into something hard enough to stop you meriting a £35 fine, who wants to guess what secretly driving a 4x4 up a mountain (twice) and not actually being seen by anyone, much less hurting them attracts from the courts?

Yep, a 22 month prison sentence.

That's six months for the "dangerous driving" of taking a 4x4 up a deserted gentle incline, 10 months for the "dangerous driving" of doing it again and six months for not turning up at the start of the trial - to be served consecutively.


So, killing someone isn't dangerous but driving up a hill in a car meant to go up hills is.

 

[Sphinx]

Intent.

 

[Famine]

Intending to use an off-roader to go off road and not intend to endanger anyone nor actually do so makes a 22 month sentence sensible compared to a £35 fine for accidentally killing a cyclist and driving 300 feet with his body on your bonnet, accidentally crashing into several further objects until you get stopped by accidentally hitting a tree?

Nope. Not seeing it.


Don't get me wrong, Snowdon man is clearly a dick - but to call what he did "dangerous" is ludicrous. At best he broke the rules about where motor vehicles are allowed in a national park. Meanwhile the taxi driver actually killed someone with his car (whether or not the accident was his fault, the fact someone died after coming into contact with him) and demonstrably drove dangerously thereafter.