Early Risers.

[PhilJ W]

27 minutes ago, pH said:

While still living in the UK in the 1970s, one of my bosses was an American. He was not a great fan of the American way of life (one of the reasons he was living in the UK) but he did offer a defence of attitudes like that. Remember, this was before the internet, when people got their news through newspapers, network TV and local radio. He said US media were very parochial, much more than British media. Most of the news was about things happening in the US. Foreign news was usually only reported if Americans or American interests were involved, and always from a strongly US point of view. Events not involving Americans rarely made the news; neither did non-American points of view. My boss said many Americans were (he meant it genuinely, not in a disparaging way) ignorant of what was happening outside the USA.

I found that on a visit to the USA, even the TV news was parochial. For part of my stay I spent a few days with an English friend and I still had the week old British newspapers I'd bought before boarding my flight. His wife grabbed them and avidly read them.

[Ozexpatriate]

29 minutes ago, pH said:

My boss said many Americans were (he meant it genuinely, not in a disparaging way) ignorant of what was happening outside the USA.

Which is of course still true - but not as true as many people seem to assume. There's a lot of confirmation bias around experiencing the 'ugly American tourist' trope.

 

Then as now, much depends on where people get their news and how much of it they consume.

 

The 'troubles' were widely reported in the traditional national news media - like the evening network news.

 

Even so, sometimes the day-to-day reality is hard to perceive from afar. Many years ago I was waiting for a train at Paddington. I had come straight from Heathrow and bought something to eat while I waited. I wanted to throw the wrappers away but couldn't find a bin anywhere. It took a little while to twig as to why but the penny dropped eventually. I eventually left them on top of a locked skip.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

... even the TV news was parochial

When is it not? Anywhere in the world? 

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each,

Well I did a spot of tidying up in  the garden and that wasn't (and still isn't) too painful.  Only problem is that The Boss has twigged and suggested that I should now do more of the same in the coming days.  TCs come to mind.

It was quite nice out in the garden earlier but it's now tipping it down with wet stuff.

Evening snack of sausage rolls, fries and horror of horrors baked beans has been consumed and I  really enjoyed it.  Needless to say I also enjoyed the glass of Black Stump which may seem to some like a strange accompaniment to such a meal but I don't care.  Another glass will be poured in a moment.

Cheers.  🍷🍷

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by grandadbob

[polybear]

Love it - could (would) be an Ebay sensation:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-65241432

[polybear]

No comment necessary methinks:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65234314

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, pH said:

While still living in the UK in the 1970s, one of my bosses was an American. He was not a great fan of the American way of life (one of the reasons he was living in the UK) but he did offer a defence of attitudes like that. Remember, this was before the internet, when people got their news through newspapers, network TV and local radio. He said US media were very parochial, much more than British media. Most of the news was about things happening in the US. Foreign news was usually only reported if Americans or American interests were involved, and always from a strongly US point of view. Events not involving Americans rarely made the news; neither did non-American points of view. My boss said many Americans were (he meant it genuinely, not in a disparaging way) ignorant of what was happening outside the USA.

 

33 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I found that on a visit to the USA, even the TV news was parochial. For part of my stay I spent a few days with an English friend and I still had the week old British newspapers I'd bought before boarding my flight. His wife grabbed them and avidly read them.

There is a certainly an element of disinterest in the affairs of the rest of the world, unless it directly involves Americans (cue Monty Python sketch: The News for Parrots “…No parrots were involved in an accident on the M1 today, when a lorry carrying high octane fuel was in collision with a hollard ... that is a bollard and not a parrot. A spokesman for parrots said he was glad no parrots were involved….”). but my experience (pre-Internet) of the news media in the US is that this disinterest actually resides more at the state, if not local, level. 
 

Living in Richmond, Virginia, you would rarely hear much about other US states in the TV News. You would get the nightly news feed from New York, which covered national and international news (as did the Reuters feed [or similar] for newspapers) but for the most part the news was very parochial indeed - to the point where a major incident in Roanoke VA might or might not get a few lines in the Richmond VA newspaper.

 

Some wag made an cynical and sardonic quip about how he could pick up a US newspaper, open it and make the rest of the world disappear…

 

Whilst this disinterest in ex-US affairs is unfortunate, it is understandable. The US is vast and many states are larger than many sovereign nations. So, for example, what happens in Utah or Wyoming has more direct relevance to the lives of the people in Colorado. However, in today’s interconnected world what happens half the globe away can be very relevant indeed to those living in Salt Lake City (or Tunbridge Wells or Liestal BL for that matter).

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

The typical range of a Mobile Camera Van Speed Gun is in the region of at least 1 mile on a straight road, so if you're givin' it some at the 100m mark the ink on the ticket is already dry.

 

 

 

Huh?!?!?! What apparent no-fun police state do you live in - communist North Korea? Why dont they just turn you upside down and shake you until all your money drops out?

 

Here in the Land Of The Fair Go the data is in:

 

Warning signs ahead of mobile speed cameras returned to NSW on 1 January 2023 after the number of tickets issued increased by more than 10 times – and the draconian measures failed to make a dent on the road toll.

 

Figures published by Nine News showed 38,743 tickets were issued to drivers for travelling at less than 10km/h over the limit in 2020 when warning signs ahead of mobile speed cameras were still in use.

However, the following year – when the warning signs were removed, and [mobile speed camera] cars were stripped of their overt reflective markings – a staggering 361,896 tickets were issued to drivers for travelling at less than 10km/h over the limit (approximately 10 times more than the 2020 figures).

In 2022, when NSW authorities back-tracked slightly on the warning sign ban – and installed retractable signs on the roof of speed camera cars – there were 243,622 tickets issued to drivers for travelling at less than 10km/h over the limit (six times more than the 2020 figures).

 

In an attempt to support the tough new measures, the NSW Government began an advertising blitz that claimed speeding at less than 10km/h over the limit was a major killer on the roads.

However, road safety experts and frontline police told Drive the government deliberately ignored the much bigger role of drugs, alcohol, unregistered cars, unlicenced and banned drivers, and the failure to wear seatbelts in the less-than-10km/h-over-the-limit fatality statistics.

 

"The 10km/h message is not an honest reflection of the real killers on our roads," said one high-ranking highway patrol officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"These cameras are issuing tickets to people who are keeping flow with the traffic, and they are fines (below 10km/h over the limit) we would not issue because you wouldn't be able to stop every car.

"The return of warning signs (ahead of mobile speed camera cars) is fair game because it means if you get caught you're clearly not watching your surroundings and paying attention to the road."

 

Some motorists were so frustrated by the removal of the warning signs, they took matters into their own hands – though the creators of the makeshift signs were often moved-on by police for public nuisance.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

You would get the nightly news feed from New York, which covered national and international news (as did the Reuters feed [or similar] for newspapers)

Which is the national news. Local news is, well, local. The local news maxim is "if it bleeds, it ledes, weather and sports (at eleven)". Both exist and people don't have to choose one or the other. Both is quite possible.

 

I happened to watch the weekly news magazine 60 Minutes on Sunday. The topics (their copy) were:

• NASA's Webb telescope captures new views of stars, galaxies and the early universe

• Saudi Arabia shelling out on sports, athletes amid accusations of sportswashing

• Notre Dame reconstruction continues four years after massive fire tore through French cathedral

There was also a footnote to the passing of the last living Nuremburg prosecutor. Obviously all reporting is a function of editorial slant and local preferences, but I wouldn't describe this set of stories as particularly parochial.

 

Certainly inside the US there is a lower percentage of foreign coverage than coverage in countries outside the US of news in the US* but that doesn't mean foreign coverage is nonexistent.

 

* Unsurprising for the largest country in the world by GDP.

 

What people learn about the world is a function of what news they consume.

 

[monkeysarefun]

5 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I was in Abu Qir, outside Alexandria on 9/11. Something I have to say is that many Egyptian's went out of their way to approach me to express their horror, I guess as a white person they thought I might be American. I remember seeing some media stories about celebrations in Egypt as fans of AQ went delirious, I'm sure there were examples of that happening but from what I could see such people were not representative of Egypt as a whole and whatever people thought about the Western world I got the impression most people were disgusted at what had been done in the name of their faith.

 

It was the early hours here, I woke up from a sleep in front of the telly to see smoke pouring from  a building, assumed in my sleepiness it  was a movie, turned it off and went to bed.

It was only driving to work the next day when the usual comedy duo weren't on the radio that I began to think something was up.

[monkeysarefun]

35 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

The US is vast and many states are larger than many sovereign nations

But Australia is the same size and we get overseas news..  All that things are bigger in Texas bragging nonsense gets cut down to size when they  find out that Western Australia could fit 3 and a half Texases in it. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

34 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Whilst this disinterest in ex-US affairs is unfortunate, it is understandable. The US is vast and many states are larger than many sovereign nations. So, for example, what happens in Utah or Wyoming has more direct relevance to the lives of the people in Colorado. However, in today’s interconnected world what happens half the globe away can be very relevant indeed to those living in Salt Lake City (or Tunbridge Wells or Liestal BL for that matter).

Yes Flavio, I agree with the connectedness of the modern world. The question of what interests people, through the prism of what news they choose to consume, is an interesting one.

 

Here there are many factors, not limited to the size (geographic, population and GDP) of the US, inherited cultural issues (like manifest destiny/exceptionalism and xenophobia), political tribalism and others; that lead some down a path of willful ignorance and others down a path of interest in the world at large.

[Tony_S]

12 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

What people learn about the world is a function of what news they consume.

We used to read a UK newspaper that didn’t really coincide with our political views,but it was basically literate and the cooking and gardening pages were ok. I don’t need my views reinforced by a newspaper more in tune with my worldview.  Then it changed and as I said when cancelling the subscription it seemed to have confused news and comment and some of the commentators seemed deranged. Aditi has an online subscription to the New York Times and reads other papers via the Essex Library App. I half listen to the BBC news on Radio 4 as I wake up , glance at BBC or Sky News as alerts pop up on my iPad and watch some news on the later BBC News channel when it is fairly international. Sometimes I will have a look at some of the local (Essex) news sources but fortunately we live somewhere where “not a lot happens”. If the Essex police helicopter is flying about, Twitter usually suffices with an explanation. 
Tony

[Ozexpatriate]

5 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

But Australia is the same size and we get overseas news.

Barely (geographically) and not in terms of population (7%) or GDP (6%).

[Ozexpatriate]

12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Western Australia could fit 3 and a half Texases in it

Queensland is slightly larger than Alaska, but Alaska is bigger than the other Australian states and territories (WA excepted).

[monkeysarefun]

6 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Barely (geographically) and not in terms of population (7%) or GDP (6%).

 

We like the elbow room! 

 

  Interesting that GDP seems to be scaled down in the same ratio as population size

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

Interesting that GDP seems to be scaled down in the same ratio as population size

You can thank the mines and banks (the 'lucky country'):

 

List of countries by GDP per capita

It's even more interesting when you take out the tax havens (not meaning the Isle of Man).

 

The shading from the linked source represents countries and territories not in an IMF report.

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Clarification

[polybear]

Bear has just been reading an article in Bike Magazine (I get it free as a part of a Bank Account).

Some Guy living in Checkaslowotsit has built a m/sickle ......with a 10-cyclinder supercharged radial two-stroke engine....

...and the ten 50cc pistons drive a central vertical crankshaft.  Oh yes, and there's five superchargers.  Now that's clever - and the whole lot is fitted into a 1953 Jawa 18, complete with original unmodified frame, dampers and drum brakes.

Does it work?  Oh yes.

And he did all the paintwork and lining himself as well.

 

Right then Puppers @PupCam, stop messing about......

 

 

[Dave Hunt]

6 hours ago, Barry O said:

One of the visitors said "You limeys don't know grief like this" my response was... we have suffered terrorist attacks for a long time.. never heard much in the way of commiserations from the Yanks... not nice but  it is still a very sore point... my missus to be only just missed being murdered by the the pub bomb in Birmingham.. ....

 

I was once in the museum at Cobh where there is a display scene of an Irish family during the potato famine. A group of Americans were looking at it and one said in a loud voice, "These damn Brits have a lot to answer for, I hope they're all ashamed of themselves," which met with mutterings of agreement from his colleagues. I went up to them and said, "Yes, you're right. It was almost as bad as what your people did to the native Americans," and left amid a stunned silence.

 

Dave

[monkeysarefun]

28 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

You can thank the mines and banks:

 

List of countries by GDP per capita

It's even more interesting when you take out the tax havens.

 

While we are on the subject of GDP I have a question that I've always been wondering. Watching youtube clips of US police traffic stops, why is it that when the cops suspect someone is DUI they make them do tests like count backwards from 100, walk a straight line, squat on one leg and so on, THEN breathalyse them?

 

I assumed it might be just for the LOLz at watching drunks trying to  do stuff but if that was the case Australian cops would be doing it too they'd be all  "Spin around and around on the spot!. Shave off an eyebrow!  Run across the road with your pants round your ankles! Put this bunger up your clacker and light it!" etc etc.

 

Why cant they just breathalyse them at the get go? I assume like everything else there's some constitutional reason behind it, I could google it but I'm here now....

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

8 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

It was almost as bad as what your people did to the native Americans

Dave, do you mean the English colonists*? Or their 19th century descendants on the great plains?

 

* Starting more or less with King Philip's war in 1675.

 

The history of European colonization (by whichever European power) - wherever in the world: Ireland, the Americas, Australia, Africa**, etc is fraught with such tragic examples.

 

** not intended to be a comprehensive list. I haven't forgotten Asia.

 

There's this oldie (allegedly) as well.

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Clarification

[New Haven Neil]

29 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

You can thank the mines and banks (the 'lucky country'):

 

List of countries by GDP per capita

It's even more interesting when you take out the tax havens.

 

 

#sigh#

 

For the 842,987th time, we are no longer a tax haven, we have more strict rules than many other, adjacent countries - esp the City of London.

[Compound2632]

4 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Dave, do you mean the English colonists*? Or their 19th century descendants on the great plains?

 

Two of the driving forces behind the English colonists in America seeking independence from Great Britain were the fear that the British Government was determined to place limits on westward expansion and fear that it might abolish the slave trade and, ultimately, slavery.

[Gwiwer]

58 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Some motorists were so frustrated by the removal of the warning signs, they took matters into their own hands – though the creators of the makeshift signs were often moved-on by police for public nuisance.

Evening all.  

 

Some folks in the UK do the same.  Only last year we spotted a very readable hand-painted sign on bright yellow card saying "Speed trap ahead - it's the silver Golf".  About a quarter-mile later we passed a silver VW Golf parked in a lay-by halfway down a long hill .........  

 

It's not legal (in the UK) to warn of such things but the ever-present "camera" signs imply that we are always being watched.  As indeed we are.  

 

And speaking of always being watched I returned home today to find a bailiff at the door 🤯 completing some paperwork for "me".  He wanted to seize my goods because "I" hadn't paid a large amount of road traffic fines and ULEZ charges.  The figure was above £5000.  

He showed me sufficient "evidence" that the person responsible had registered their vehicles at our address and that in order to prevent the removal of goods I had to prove, there and then, to his satisfaction that I was not the person of interest.  

 

Easily enough done with photo ID and a Council Tax bill (with receipt!) but that wasn't a nice surprise to come home to.  

 

It turns out - because I recognise the name on the documents - that Dodgy Neighbour (Upstairs) who bunked off last week has re-registered his motors downstairs recently 🤬 🤬🤬🤬🤬  A crafty ploy to avoid the inevitable?  A swift call from our agent also confirmed my identity was not the person in question; they could not provide any personal details to a bailiff because of Data Protection but could do so if served with a court summons to comply.  

 

We always suspected they were dubious.  He never seemed to work although his "work van" came and went at irregular hours.  It was scruffy, empty apart from a beaten-up old bike and when we happened out of idle curiosity to run his registration through the public side of the Swansea website it came up as "SORN" for the past several years.  Off-road it wasn't.  Except when we saw it parked outside.  That being on private land and not wishing to interfere or arouse suspicions we let him take his chances on the road.  

 

They won't be getting a landlord's reference from our agent.  They might find the Long Arm of the Law eventually catches up with them.  Just so long as they don't attempt to darken our doorstep (or windows, or any other part of the Hill of Strawberries) again either in person or by proxy through bailiffs or otherwise.  

 

Steam let off.  It'll disperse rapidly in this wind.  I had a bit of a ride around after work.  A train down to Alton, bus through some countryside (and a few bits of grot called Bordon / Whitehill) I hadn't seen before and train back from Haslemere.  I won't have a second chance for that trip as the route is being withdrawn after Saturday.  Another case of Omnibus frequentus becoming extinct.  

 

And that was Cheeseday.  Tomorrow we are forecast to receive even more high winds and rain.  I look forward (not!) to being outside in that lot helping everyone else travel safely.  

[Ozexpatriate]

54 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

I assume like everything else there's some constitutional reason behind it

Random breath testing is (universally?) illegal in the US. "Probable cause" is required - which is Amendment IV of the Bill of Rights.

 

Quote

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

 

Poor driving, followed by a sobriety test present probable cause to move to breathalyzer testing.

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Because people are picky ;)