Scotland
<<While you're at it why not stick pictures of Gerard (GERR-udd) Butler on your wall or preferably on the back of your door and throw darts at it?>>
Hey great idea but I prefer to shoot stuff with my gun. I gotten a semi. Sorry about that. I just get excited when I think about shootin stuff. And I think you know its GerRAD ButLERRR we're a-hatin' right know.
<<I guess i'll have to show support for the cause by boycotting Scotch Tape for a while>>
Darn it Angus. What the heck are we gonna use to shut those "non-combatant" baasterds up with.... Wait I got it, lets re-name Scotchtape "freedom tape".
<<Just to mention a very few of these things borne of Scottish ingenuity and skill just how will these Americans manage without their telephone, television, refrigerator, pneumatic tyres, pencillin, postage stamps, golf, microwave ovens...and last but not least..Hallow'een.....originally Scottish, and not American, contrary to popular belief.>>
Hahaha! Some Scottish person may have come up with the IDEA for a refrigerator, but my refrigerator sure as hell wasn't made in Scotland! Ideas are good, but you've got to be able to carry them through and produce quality goods, not 'shite'.
<<Hallow'een.....originally Scottish, and not American, contrary to popular belief.>>
Don't worry -- the boycott will be over by then. The recent boycott of French Fries didn't last long, IIRC.
In the meantime, it's probably best not to walk up and down your neighborhood street late at night practicing the bagpipes, lest the neighbors start throwing bricks at you.
<<Hey great idea but I prefer to shoot stuff with my gun. >>
I wonder if the gun was invented in Scotland? If so, we're in for a tough few weeks while the boycott lasts.
***I wonder if the gun was invented in Scotland?***
Actually no it wasn't, but the pea shooter was.
Most people would automatically assume that the gun really was an American invention would they not, seeing that it is so very synonymous with American culture and always has been, but bullets were whizzing through the air of Bonnie Scotland trillions of years before even America itself was invented, which from our perspective was only a week ago last Tuesday.
And it's Hallowe'en in fact, not Hallowee'n as I said before....my mistake. As for the pumpkins - the Americans probably invented those, we'll grant them that. I've eaten pumpkin pie as it happens, but I found it to be very bland and insipid - let's hope the Americans add some magic ingredient to theirs to really spice them up a wee bit.
I really look forward to seeing the Open golf tournament from Augusta, Georgia, USA on TV next time round, barring any cancellation of course...I shall wear a very wry smile thinking of when golf as we know it was played for the very first time ever anywhere in the world on a stretch of greenery at St Andrews in the Kingdom of Fife, just a stone's throw away from my own home. True to form I think we Scots need to charge royalties on the sport.
That's all I'm going to say about all this now.....I'm bored with it.
"As for the pumpkins - the Americans probably invented those, we'll grant them that."
Generous of you, but we didn't invent pumpkins or even corn!
Yes, it's hard to imagine that Americans didn't invent plumb ever'thing.
Why do the Scottish show compassion to a man who never showed any to his victims?
How responsible was that guy for the events? Was he fully responsible for their deaths , or only partially. I can understand the hatred for him if he was fully responsible, but then, I hope people aren't just loading ALL the blame on him simply because he was the only one caught.
Because basically Scots are a compassionate people without going all limp wristed and feeble minded. This man is not being treated any differently to any other person incarcerated in a Scottish prison once it has been proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that his time left on this earth can now be measured in weeks...let's just wait and see what happens. If the man survives then Scotland really, really will look very silly indeed
It's now enshrined in Scottish law that any inmate of a Scottish prison who is proved to be in the latter stages of a terminal illness is permitted released and therefore he or she is granted the right to die among family and friends. The nature of the crime committed by these people is of no relevance as far as this concession is concerned.
Hugely controversial as this matter has turned out to be, not only in America but in Scotland and the rest of the UK as well (please remember a fair number of Brits also died including residents of Lockerbie itself) the law is always the law and it has to be adhered to even in this tragic case, regardless of any public outcry such as we have seen.
If that ill fated plane had exploded over American soil on its approach to New York instead of in the air over a wee Scottish town on its flight path away from this country I'm not sure what would have happened to Abdelbasset Ali al Megrahi....most probably he'd still be on death row over in America, where so many such criminals seem to remain for decades before they have their last meal. Correct me if I'm wrong there.
Most Brits and other Europeans have a very hard time trying to fathom out the American judicial system in any comprehensible way, to be honest with you guys.
So the short answer to you is: humanity and compassion, notwithstanding. Many of us think that the guilty will always get their just deserts... ultimately...somehow or other....either in this world or some place else.
Pumpkin pie should have generous helpings of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to spice it up. And real whipped cream. Pecans help, too.
<<If that ill fated plane had exploded over American soil on its approach to New York instead of in the air over a wee Scottish town on its flight path away from this country I'm not sure what would have happened to Abdelbasset Ali al Megrahi....most probably he'd still be on death row over in America, where so many such criminals seem to remain for decades before they have their last meal. Correct me if I'm wrong there. >>
It does seem like you can die of old age while waiting for your execution, but I think 7 or 8 years is about average. Most states give convicted capital criminals unlimited chances to appeal, and often an automatic appeal as soon as their sentence is pronounced. Some people waive that right, like Timothy McVeigh, but most people grab those appeals with both hands, and are able to prolong the agony for quite some time. But given the finality of their sentence, that's usually considered fair.
However, whether or not this guy would have gotten the death penalty if convicted would very much depend on who got jurisdiction over the crime, and what their particular standards for capital punishment were.
<<Most Brits and other Europeans have a very hard time trying to fathom out the American judicial system in any comprehensible way, to be honest with you guys.>>
It's not that hard. Some crimes fall under federal jurisdiction, and some fall under state jurisdiction. Federal law is the same everywhere, but state law varies from one to the next. So determining whether a crime violates state or federal law is the first step.
As ever, thank you, Uriel.....I learn more of the American way of life from both yourself and Jasper than I do from any book, newspaper or the broadcasting media.
It must be very confusing for the average American who decides to move away from one particular state to live in another......what was legal or illegal in the former is suddenly the other way round in the latter.
That would seem strange to us in the UK where almost all of the jurisdiction of the Westminster Parliament embraces the whole of the country except for all those matters which affect local issues in both Scotland and Wales which are the responsibility of either the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.
As this is such a small country it would be impossible to adopt anything like the American system here. We have enough to cope with concerning all the rules and regulations coming at us from Brussels or Strasbourg...we've now got to get rid of all the old fashioned lightbulbs as they are going the way of the dodo, replaced by the energy saving bulbs which many Brits dislike....they cost a bomb even though they are made to last for many generations to come, they are too dim for many people's liking and there is a certain time lapse before they are fully operational, but we all have to think of the environment and global climate change, do we not?
I get tired of old people telling us that winters are not as cold and snowy as they used to be in the UK and that summers are crap now unlike the "old days" when, according to them, every summer's day was one of eternal blue skies, gentle breezes and tea parties on the lawn shaded from the relentless sunshine. Of course we all know that people only remember things from the past which they want to remember. UK summers are no more crappier now than they used to be if all the record books are to be believed.
It's true about those winters though - they really were colder and snowier than they are now, as those record books show, and as my grandparents tell me.
<<It must be very confusing for the average American who decides to move away from one particular state to live in another......what was legal or illegal in the former is suddenly the other way round in the latter.>>
Not really. The broad picture is the same. The devil is in the details. I would think that business law, taxation, and marriage/divorce laws are the ones the average person might notice -- some states have income tax or gross receipts tax, some don't; some allow for easier business incorporation laws (Delaware has a reputation for being almost as friendly as an offshore scheme); and some states require waiting periods and blood tests and such to marry (or divorce), while others do not (Nevada doesn't care, which is why Las Vegas is famous for spur-of-the-moment marriages). A serious misdemeanor in one place might be a minor felony in another. A smattering of states allow and recognize gay marriage, others might legally recognize domestic partnerships, and some don't even allow common-law marriage (like NM). Doctor-assisted euthanasia is allowed in Oregon, but nowhere else. Wyoming will ticket you for not moving over to the far lane if there is a car pulled over on the shoulder of the road, and you can't make a right turn on a red light in Nevada. Firearms laws and minimum ages for driving might vary. Legal sentencing guidelines differ. Lawyers and medical professionals must be licensed in the states they practice in, and cannot practice law or medicine in other states they are not licensed for because regulations vary (although they may be licensed in more than one state at a time if they wish to take the exams and pay the fees).
<<Why do the Scottish show compassion to a man who never showed any to his victims?>>
Oh, I can see where this one is going so better address it…
The man was wrongly accused, in fact; the whole Lockerbie affair stinks to high heaven, he was convicted on highly suspect circumstantial evidence that was put in place to lift sanctions from Libya and allow the west access to Libyan oil.
But, let’s not dwell deeper into this cluster fuck shall we, it’s all about politics and perception anyways.
And now…
Onto the US and its pissing and moaning over this.
First of all it happened over our soil (despite I’m situated in Sweden right now), British people died too and he was convicted by our legal system with out being detained in a camp with out trial and tortured. The US showed no compassion to the UK and Irish victims of the IRA when it welcomed Gerry Adams into the US and openly let him fund raise for terrorism. When a US warship shot down an Iranian passenger jet the government gave the captain a medal. Double standards much?
Perhaps this will help some future readers to think twice before posting and attacking the Scottish legal system.
<<First of all it happened over our soil (despite I’m situated in Sweden right now), British people died too and he was convicted by our legal system with out being detained in a camp with out trial and tortured. The US showed no compassion to the UK and Irish victims of the IRA when it welcomed Gerry Adams into the US and openly let him fund raise for terrorism. When a US warship shot down an Iranian passenger jet the government gave the captain a medal. Double standards much?
Perhaps this will help some future readers to think twice before posting and attacking the Scottish legal system. >>
EDIT: DISREGARD THAT I SUCK COCKS!!!!!!1