Originally posted by storch
Atheist eh? actually that is very disingenuos. you believe in some form of a god. perhaps you are too lazy to invest deep thought on the subject or are intellectually dishonest. The choice is between two gods. That choice is God the creator or god the adversary. No choice is still a choice.
I don't agree with that. That's like saying that "bald" is a hair colour.
Dago! I thank you for that list of US attributes. You're wrong about me - I have been to most US states (41 out of the 50) on various holidays/vacations as well as working in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. I've been to Calico ghost town in CA. I've hiked in Yosemite. I've been to the Redwood national park and stayed at Arcata,CA and spent two days hiking the trails in the Redwoods. I have been to Tombstone, AZ and seen a re-enactment of the events of 26th October, 1881. I have been to Grand Canyon. I don't need reminding of the wheat fields - I saw little else when driving through western Nebraska (west of North Platte) some years ago. I have been to Fort Sumter, SC where the civil war started at 4:30am on that fateful morning when a shell exploded overhead and signalled the beginning of hostilities. I have been to Stone Mountain,GA and seen the Confederate Memorial carving - Davis, Lee & Jackson. Later that day, I visited a museum in which there was a huge model depicting various Civil War battles. I also remember seeing a plaque about the Allman bros band from Macon, GA. I have yet to see Mt. Rushmore, but I have spent a lot of time in NYC - including visiting the WTC and the Empire State buildings. I spent a few days in Wyoming, hiking in the Grand Tetons, and visited Yellowstone Park. I had to cut that trip short because of bad weather, and because many trails do not open before Memorial Day. I've lived in the Chicago area, where it was perishing cold much of the time. The pizzas were good though. I swam in the Gulf off Galveston,TX - warmest water I ever swam in.
Large aircraft production is not the sole preserve of Boeing, by the way. Here, we have British Aerospace who worked with Airbus Industrie to produce large planes like the Airbus 340 - not quite as big as the 747-400, but the A340 has flown half way round the world non-stop (Toulouse to Perth), a distance of 15,000km in about 16½ hours. The Boeing 747-400 cannot do this without refuelling. Oh, and a new aircraft is in the works which is even bigger than the 747-400, and that's the Airbus 380. You might want to edit your post when that enters service in 2006.
We have many museums too, only ours depict historical events which happened more than 250 years ago. I'm sure the USA is not the only country where one can hunt for large or small game. In fact our friend Mr. Toad sometimes comes over to England - just to shoot game down in the west country. We also have some of the best trout fishing in the world. I know of Americans who come over to fish trout from the rivers Itchen and Test in Hampshire. I must admit I was surprised when I found that out.
You can learn to fly planes and race cars here and in most other countries. I have flown in the airspace of seven different countries, including five US states. I have both CAA and FAA licences. I have been to the EAA Convention at Oshkosh in 1991 - very impressive, but I was surprised it ran for only a week, which would not have been long enough to see everything. Here, we also have airshows in case you didn't know. One of the best I ever saw was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain at Boscombe Down in 1990 - best airshow I ever saw. There are others - at Cosford and Fairford for example.
American healthcare is indeed of a very high standard, and my life was saved in an American hospital in 1980. However, there is something wrong when an AH subscriber has to cancel his account because he's struggling to pay medical bills. That can't be right. And my mother-in-law who lived in Chicago had to forego carpal tunnel surgery because it was not covered by Medicare/Medicaid and she could not afford the $20,000 to pay for it herself. That can't be right either.
In New York, I went to numerous theatre productions. I have met and had lunch with Debra Monk (wife of Sippowitz in NYPD Blue, and also had small role in Bridges of Madison County). It was she who told me that much of NYPD Blue is actually filmed in Los Angeles - bet you didn't know that. One time I found myself sitting next to the newscaster Stone Phillips - at Sarah Beth's Kitchen in NYC. (He asked to be moved - not because he was sitting next to me, but because his seat was where two sets joined and he wasn't comfortable!) I've watched tennis at the US Open in Flushing Meadow (Lindsay Davenport - can't remember her opponent) and baseball next door at Shea Stadium. Saw a cracking game on 24th August, 1995 - the day W95 was released: Mets were down 3-2 but came back to win 4-3 at the bottom of the ninth. I have watched baseball at several other stadia - Oakland Coliseum, PacBell Park, Coors Field, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. After the Fenway Park game, I had dinner at the Union Oyster House in Boston - oldest restaurant in the USA.
I have stood at the Continental Divide at Milner Pass, CO, and as a result understand the concept of Pacific Ocean drainage and Atlantic Ocean drainage.
You missed so much.
Like what?
