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The U.S.A. kicks @$$
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I know it isn't quite the 4th everywhere, but my neighbors can't seem to wait to start celebrating. I keep hearing fireworks going off...
That's a great list, Rusty. Did you know you left the banjo off the list of inventions?
Or, was that on purpose?
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sextant
bifocals
combine harvester
paint tube
cylinder printing press
water tower
roller skates
motor bike
toilet paper
jeans
telephone
fountain pen
ferris wheel
zipper
crayons
popsicle
masking tape
bubble gum
carbon dating
Scrabble
cervical cancer vaccine
and...
BASEBALL!!!!
Happy 4th America!!!
and thanks Rusty for this thread.
xoxo
Happy 4th July guys.Have a great Weekend - I'll celebrate from my desk here is Britain.
Yay America! Well said, Rusty...not cheesy at all.
And yay jeans and toilet paper!
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skate boards
rock and roll
bluegrass
Civil Rights
The US has won over 300 Nobel prizes; the country with the second most prizes (UK) has won 114.
Weren't we the first ones, through Ben Franklin, to learn how to channel electricity?Oooh... Jazz. Thanks, Charissa. That's a good one.
Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today,We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the U. S. A.
New York, Los Angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol' St. Lou.
Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the U. S. A.
Looking hard for a drive-in, searching for a corner cafe
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a juke-box jumping with records like in the U.S.A.
Well, I'm so glad I'm livin' in the U.S.A.
Yes. I'm so glad I'm livin' in the U.S.A.
Anything you want, we got right here in the U.S.A.
--Chuck Berry
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Jackson PollockAbstract Expressionism
Georgia O'Keeffe
Edward Hopper
Joseph Cornell
Aaron Copeland
Robert Rauschenburg
Frank Stella
Jasper Johns
Merce Cunningham
John Cage
Alice Waters
Mario Batali
George Segal
Louise Nevelson
Sam Maloof
Beverly Sills
Model T Ford
The US has the two largest balls of twine IN THE WORLD - and I daresay the UNIVERSE!
Things invented by Americans:Love
Music
Science
Friendship
Kittens
The word "unalienable"
White-out
Eugene DebsHelen Keller
Abbie Hoffman
Harriet Tubman
Susan B. Anthony
Chuck Berry
Julia "Butterfly" Hill
bell hooks
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chief Joseph
Malcolm Little
Langston Hughes
Cesar Chavez
Abraham Lincoln
Nikola Tesla
Philip K. Dick
Geronimo
Mark Twain
Ken Kesey
Frederick Douglass
Sylvia Plath
Sitting Bull
Tom Hayden
Mario Savio
beachesredwoods
deserts
plains
Golden Gate Bridge
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Root beer
Hula hoops
Cheez whiz.... I know. I'm stretching here.
I dunno, I think you guys listed all the good stuff already... :D
Yes Rusty, the good ol' USA does indeed kick ass. And we've no reason to be ashamed. It's why so many millions risk all to come here, legally or not. That's speaks volumes. I'm glad they're tryin' and I hope they continue. Sure we got border issues, but my honest hope is that we continue to benefit from that which has always made this country what it is... the people, not the tapeworms in DC.
K, so, Rusty and I have had our differences on some things. And, I'm probably not the most patriotic girl alive. But, I have something to add here, which I would have before if I'd have seen the thread earlier.
It was around the 1st or 2nd of July and two of my bosses were standing in front of my desk shooting the shit (like they do most days), cup of coffee in hand. The one says to the other all about how this country is so screwed up and he thinks the thing to do is to retire somewhere else. I looked right at him and said, "You do that, you'll be back!" I say this from experience. I have twice lived outside the United States (Europe) and done a fair amount of travelling in my day. I adore travel by the way, the History, Art, Culture...amazing! However, living in another country is something else entirely and I don't think most Americans could do it in the long run. For a while, sure, most people can do just about anything temporarily. But, long term? Nope, we're so damn spoiled, and it's nice. I like being spoiled. I like being me. I say honestly, if you don't like America, why don't you go try living somewhere else and see how you like it there? If you like it better, stay! Sure, things suck about America, things suck about the UK too (I'm not saying the UK sucks Hayley, not at all...my point is, there are things about any country that suck), I lived there...twice...trust me. There are things that suck about Mexico, two of my closest friends lived there for years, I've been there. Not the resorts with bikinis and margaritas, I mean actually living in Mexico City. There is good and bad in all places, all things, all people. Nurture the good, encourage it, further it and do your best to limit the bad in as much as is in your power. Or, buy your ticket and move on!
It was around the 1st or 2nd of July and two of my bosses were standing in front of my desk shooting the shit (like they do most days), cup of coffee in hand. The one says to the other all about how this country is so screwed up and he thinks the thing to do is to retire somewhere else. I looked right at him and said, "You do that, you'll be back!" I say this from experience. I have twice lived outside the United States (Europe) and done a fair amount of travelling in my day. I adore travel by the way, the History, Art, Culture...amazing! However, living in another country is something else entirely and I don't think most Americans could do it in the long run. For a while, sure, most people can do just about anything temporarily. But, long term? Nope, we're so damn spoiled, and it's nice. I like being spoiled. I like being me. I say honestly, if you don't like America, why don't you go try living somewhere else and see how you like it there? If you like it better, stay! Sure, things suck about America, things suck about the UK too (I'm not saying the UK sucks Hayley, not at all...my point is, there are things about any country that suck), I lived there...twice...trust me. There are things that suck about Mexico, two of my closest friends lived there for years, I've been there. Not the resorts with bikinis and margaritas, I mean actually living in Mexico City. There is good and bad in all places, all things, all people. Nurture the good, encourage it, further it and do your best to limit the bad in as much as is in your power. Or, buy your ticket and move on!
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Like, in France, the peanut butter is STALE! And forget getting any root beer.
No, Amelia is right, there are problems everywhere. I have a friend who keeps quitting her jobs, because of "issues". She's a great friend, but I suspect the issues are more hers, than her co-workers.
Heh, one time, Henry's sister (Jackie, that's Jonathan, the tall, lanky one in my posse.) got mad at a co-worker and took off her shoe and threw it at em! Hah! That just gets me every time!!
(The PB is nasty in the UK as well. Sunpat, it tastes like the free government stuff they tried to feed us in elementary school. I'm a Jiff girl myself. But, it was more than just food that I was talking about.)
(The PB is nasty in the UK as well. Sunpat, it tastes like the free government stuff they tried to feed us in elementary school. I'm a Jiff girl myself. But, it was more than just food that I was talking about.)
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And lets not even mention European toilet paper.
Amelia I know some things in Britain suck and I would love to try lving somewhere different if I thought it would make my life any different. I would to have a holiday home somewhere, at least that way when things get a bit shitty I can disappear for a couple of weeks and come back refreshed and ready to tackle the problems that caused me to take a break. The truth of the matter is, in the current climate, no matter where you go there are going to be issues, especially economically. Stay where you are because things will get better.
As a slight aside, I would love to visit America - my mum and dad where in Las Vagas a couple of years ago and are planning on going back. I may be coming over in a couple of years for the next International Cheerleading comp, my coach is aiming to have us there in two years.
Hayley, I would like to go back to England. I spent a few days in London and liked it a lot, but I would like to see some of the smaller towns. I would also like to visit Leeds, because my family comes from that area.
Rusty, visiting is fantastic...Highly recommended. Leeds is near York, which is preferable. Leeds is really just a good place to shop. York is lovely though!! One of my top three favorite places in the UK. York, Bath and Edinburgh, (London is very far down on that list. It's a must see for a first time, but once you've "been there done that", you can just pass it by...unless you're Sarah Girl and you need the West End to be happy!) would be the top three. Oxford and Cambridge are really beautiful too and historically cool. I could go on and on. Like I said, the history, art and culture of other places I adore...it's living there that just doesn't cut it.
Hayley, there are a lot of Americas. Las Vegas is one of them, but not one I'd choose to visit if I were coming.
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I've been to Vegas twice. The first time was because I'd never been there and wanted to know what all the fuss was about. Then we decided we'd never go back. But a dear friend was playing the lead in Mamma Mia there so we went back to see her.I loved Italy but you can't get ice in your drinks there. It's the only place I've been in Europe. I'd love to visit the UK (all of it, really. England, Scotland, and Wales and all of Ireland, not just the UK part) and France and Holland. And Vienna, Austria.
I doubt that I would visit Las Vagas for more than a couple fo days, I have family who live in Boston, so I'd probably visit them and I would love to travel around America, see the different places.Rusty, surprisingly I've never been to London and I live in England. Leeds is a cool place but has been over run by the student population, as Leeds has one of our biggests universities. I'll be in York at the end of August, my friend is getting married and we're having her hen party there, a big country farm house, girly films, lots of wine and some great food. If you ever do visit you should visit Manchester (my town is based just outside the city), its great, the shopping is good, we've got the musem(sp)of science and industry, which is great fun, the biggest soccor club in the world - Manchester United and lots of great places to eat and drink.
The B-52sDavid Lynch
Special Agents Muldur and Scully
American Football
The Jeep
The 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution
Some of these may have been mentioned but even if they have they deserve a second mention:John Steinbeck
Ernest Hemingway
Louisa May Alcott
Harper Lee
Margaret Mitchell, and for that matter, Scarlett O'Hara
William Faulkner
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Edgar Allan Poe
- In 1860, finding ourselves between wars, we decided to fight each other, just to keep ourselves sharp. But there was another purpose to this exercise. We were sending a message to any nation out there that might have military designs against us. The message was something like this: "You want to screw with us? Are you sure? Are you serious? You saw what we just did, right? We just spent six years kicking our OWN ass. And we LIKE us. What do you think we're gonna to do to you, bit$#?" The message was apparently heard loud and clear, because no one dared attack us on our own soil for another eighty years.
- During the hundred years ending in the 1920s, a majority of the world's immigrants came to the United States. Today, the U.S. takes in more immigrants than at any point in its history, and those are the legal ones.
- In 2000, Americans gave more than $200 billion in charity. Since World War II, the U.S. government has given well in excess of $500 billion (not adjusted for inflation)
- In 2006, Americans donated 2.2 percent of their average disposable, or after-tax, income, a figure above the 40-year average of 1.8 percent. This amounted to $245.8 billion,
- Americans cured polio and tuberculosis, developed vaccines for hepatitis B and yellow fever, pioneered modern chemotherapy, and produced the CAT scan and MRI.
- Americans flew the first transatlantic flight, put a man on the moon, and broke the speed of sound. Why? Because we were bored, and we had seen all of the "Scrubs" reruns on Comedy Central like three times each. Also, stuff that goes really fast is cool.
- Americans invented the following kick-ass things;
telephone, incandescent bulb, artificial heart, internet, computer, hearing aid, airplane, chocolate chip cookies, cell phone, heart-lung machine, space shuttle, nuclear submarine, defibrillator, air conditioner, refrigerator, cotton candy. And let's not forget, Pull & Peel Licorice.
- Americans built the Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, The Empire State Building, The Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore National Monument, to name a few.
- In 2007, The U.S.' GDP was just shy of 14 trillion, surpassed only, by the EU, which is made up of 27 countries.
- The U.S. has won 2,116 Olympic medals, more than any other nation, 872 of those being gold medals.
- The following kick-ass places can be found in the U.S.;
Yosemite park, Yellowstone, Gila National Forest, Shenandoah, The Grand Canyon, The Rocky Mountains, Glacier Bay National Park, Moab, The Petrified Forest, The Everglades, etc.
- Oh, also, a few years ago, we mapped the human genome.
I know that many of us are disgruntled, to say the least with the state of the government, politics, gas prices, international affairs, etc. But this really is an incredible place to live. And I don't care if that sounds cheesy.