Independence Day

[Marblehead]

... all the americans have invented is the hamburger and the frisbee.

We were the first to invent the A-bomb.

 

And after gaining our independence re reinvented the British and pretended that they really were our friends. We Americans should really be speaking French because they helped us much more than the British ever did.

 

And while it is true that we used the roots of European philosophers in our declaration it was the teachings that the Europeans thought was silly that we adopted.

[soaring crane]

We were the first to invent the A-bomb.

 

With European scientists, and there was a solid reason the Germans didn't develop it first. The leader of the project had a conscience and put his life on the line by lying to the administration about the time needed to realise the project. The reality was that they would have had it done within about a year, but after calculating the real damage this weapon would cause, he made the decision to stall it. He falsified test reports and told them they needed something like another 4 or 5 years, and this was too long for the regime, causing them to put the project on ice.

[Marblehead]

With European scientists, and there was a solid reason the Germans didn't develop it first. The leader of the project had a conscience and put his life on the line by lying to the administration about the time needed to realise the project. The reality was that they would have had it done within about a year, but after calculating the real damage this weapon would cause, he made the decision to stall it. He falsified test reports and told them they needed something like another 4 or 5 years, and this was too long for the regime, causing them to put the project on ice.

I recall hearing something similar to this and it is likely very true.

 

And I agree, it were the Germans who did nearly all the work in its development.

 

And Hey!, even JFK said he was a Berliner.

[Apech]

So basically the americans invented Facebook and the cheeseburger ... and even the fries were french ....

[zerostao]

and reagon said he was a hamburg-er.

 

no more national boundaries, I like that idea but just as likely will be further more define (restricted?) borders. it is only recently that an american needed a passport to enter canada or mexico, or lots of places, that require documentation now.

the ussr empire slpit up, Canada thinks about it, and even the usa could divide. didnt we just have talk of texas leaving?

[Apech]

Scotland vote next year to leave the UK. yes everything is falling apart. a shame I think.

[Marblehead]

Great point. I have never had a passport.

 

I have been to Canada many times, to Mexico a few times, and all over Europe (except the Communist countries) and all I even needed was my military ID and, if travelling into a country where there were no American troops, Leave (vacation) or Orders papers.

 

Funny. My last trip into Mexico I was able to enter without a passport but when I was returning to the US the Mexican authorities got on my case for not having a passport and visitor's visa and the American authorities got on my case and inspected my car and everything in it to make sure I wasn't bringing in any drugs. Aparently the Mexicans told them that I was suspect.

 

The last time I was out in the Texas and Arizona area I was stopped numerous times by check points to ask me if I was an American. I'm German, blonde hair and blue eyes. How could I possilby be confused for a Mexican trying to sneak into the US?

[Marblehead]

Scotland vote next year to leave the UK. yes everything is falling apart. a shame I think.

Yes, actually it is a shame. But if the British government would treat the peoples of the empire like British citizens they might feel differently. But then, the Scotts never wanted to be part of the empire in the first place - they were taken by force.

 

And I will add this: Polarization only gives a reason to descriminate. The more nations on the planet the more descrimination there will be.

[zerostao]

maybe some sneaky germans try to enter the usa via mexico? lol

passports are just another gimmick rackett to make $$, i think they cost 165$?

more nations= more futbol teams!

[Apech]

Yes, actually it is a shame. But if the British government would treat the peoples of the empire like British citizens they might feel differently. But then, the Scotts never wanted to be part of the empire in the first place - they were taken by force.

 

And I will add this: Polarization only gives a reason to descriminate. The more nations on the planet the more descrimination there will be.

 

 

There were centuries of fighting between the English and the Scots but the UNion was a legal treaty:

 

 

The Acts of Union were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states with separate legislatures, but with the same monarch) into a single, united kingdom named "Great Britain".^[2]

The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotlandinherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head (as opposed to the implied creation of a single Crown and a single Kingdom, exemplified by the later Kingdom of Great Britain). There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons.

 

Also many peoples in the ex-Empire / Commonwealth were given British citizenship and the right to settle in the UK. In fact the British Empire was deconstructed as part of the agreement between Churchill and Roosevelt during the second WW.

 

I have to say at this point that I love the Americans for coming and fighting the Nazis ... they didn't have to but they did and many died in the process ... it would have been easy for the US to concentrate on the Pacific. I know its complicated with the Russians and the looming cold war but anyway thank god for lease-lend and Eisenhower etc.

 

Emotionally as a Brit I would rather be a 51st state than part of a Federal Europe ... but my head tells me that's nonsense and impractical.

[Marblehead]

Okay, the Union was a legal treaty. I won't push that any further.

 

 

Yeah, the European Union has its problems. Don't know if they will ever be worked out.

 

American public opinion was to not get involved in WWII. (Even though we had troops in Russia.)

 

I am still convinced that my government allowed the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor so that we would be forced into getting involved in the war.

 

Or instead of being a 51st state be a protectorate like Puerto Rico. They have it made except that it is way over-populated for the resources the Islands have.

[soaring crane]

 

Or instead of being a 51st state be a protectorate like Puerto Rico. They have it made except that it is way over-populated for the resources the Islands have.

 

have it made? In what way? They're virtually destitute.

[Marblehead]

have it made? In what way? They're virtually destitute.

That's why I included the part about being over-populated and lack of resources. If they reduced their population to a quantity where the resources were sufficient then it would be great for all.

 

Those folks have voted numerous times as to become a 51st state but it is always defeated. They love being Puerto Ricans. There's just too many of them.

[silent thunder]

American technology hmm... computer chips.

Jazz and Blues

Cowboys

 

wish we invented bacon....

[silent thunder]

ugh... fast food

[silent thunder]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:American_inventions&from=G

[Apech]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:American_inventions&from=G

 

 

ok well apart from gamma cameras etc. ....

[soaring crane]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:American_inventions&from=G

 

the point was that technological development would have continued one way or another had the US never come into existence.

[zerostao]

the best thing about independence day is watermellon

[silent thunder]

For me it's camping and stargazing, though again, not independently.