OT: Let me ask our British posters a strange question

[Adm.Lee]

Just to defend one of my heroes

In his parting address to the country, George Washington warned of the danger of forming political parties. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were already forming the ancestors of the current Democratic and Republican parties. I really wish that the country had listened to him.

And another reason people are Tea Partying is that they are in a minority, they have griped to their Congressmen and Senators, and the stuff they don't want is happening anyway. Look at the two who were upset in their primaries this month-- Sen. Bennett was a reliable Republican, but he is being "held accountable" for being outvoted.

FWIW, political stupidity is all over, I think the GOP candidate for governor in Ohio is going to run on repealing the income tax so he can attract businesses to the state. I don't think businesses will come to a state with no schools....

[pmulcahy11b]

...and The Unit to name a few.

Strangely enough, Sayaret Maktal is also referred to as "The Unit" in the Israeli Army. The Unit -- Israel anyone Hollywood, are you listening

[pmulcahy11b]

Just a weird thought that popped into my head: do you think Alexander Hamilton's friends called him "Ham" as a nickname

Actually, Alexander Hamilton's Federalist party died out after the War of 1812. For that matter, John Adams was a Federalist, so I did screw up there.

[weswood]

The Tea Party confuses me. If the electorate doesn't like what their elected officials are doing, why not put more pressure on those officials With the number of people flocking to the Tea Party, they easily could bury the incumbents with letters demanding a particular policy. Special interests can provide funding, but they can't provide votes. How a legislator votes on given issues is public record. Wouldn't it be simpler to hold a legislator accountable for how s/he votes than create a whole new party If the numbers involved in the Tea Party were to sign documents representing a unified position, neither Democrat nor Republican incumbent could ignore them. "We'll vote you out" is the one message to which our elected officials really give their attention.

I understand that most republics have the same problem. We're too busy with our everyday lives to get involved in politics until things go south. Ounces of prevention...

Webstral

I think the TEA Partyis trying to let our elected reps know what they are against and for. Such as a smaller government, less taxes, etc. Yes, we can let the elected officials know by voting them in or out of office, but when the elections are held every four years, that's four years elected offials can run amok doing what they themselves want.

[pmulcahy11b]

Yes, we can let the elected officials know by voting them in or out of office, but when the elections are held every four years, that's four years elected offials can run amok doing what they themselves want.

Isn't that always true The politicians aren't really interested in the voters until the campaign gets well underway -- and then they are largely interested in mollifying them without really doing anything to hurt the special interests that give them money. That's what the BP hearings in the Senate really are right now -- they're a show for the voters. The politicians aren't really willing to bite the hand that feeds them.

[headquarters]

what about AL

Just a weird thought that popped into my head: do you think Alexander Hamilton's friends called him "Ham" as a nickname

Actually, Alexander Hamilton's Federalist party died out after the War of 1812. For that matter, John Adams was a Federalist, so I did screw up there.

Couldnt he have been an AL

[Webstral]

I think the TEA Partyis trying to let our elected reps know what they are against and for. Such as a smaller government, less taxes, etc. Yes, we can let the elected officials know by voting them in or out of office, but when the elections are held every four years, that's four years elected offials can run amok doing what they themselves want.

I agree completely that the Tea Party want their message to be heard, although they seem to have trouble deciding what that message is. (What organization with more than handful of people doesn't face this problem) We should bear in mind that the entire House of Reps is re-elected every two years. The drawback of this system is that a Rep is on the campaign trail from the moment he is sworn in until the moment the election results come in. A lot of energy is diverted to the endless campaigning. On the other hand, the feeling of vulnerability that arises from the biennial campaign cycle is something the Tea Party is hoping to exploit. Heck, everybody wants to exploit it.

Governors, of course, are elected every four years. I ought to know what the legislative cycle is in every state, but I don't. I suppose it's easy enough to look up, what with the Internet and all.

I'm guilty of encouraging a thread that is becoming political. I may not be the best moderator to moderate or make a decision about where the line is drawn. Perhaps one of the other moderators might make an assessment

Webstral

[headquarters]

assesment

Yeah - I will give it a try :

The thread was about accents ,somehow politics got in .It seems civil enough .Anyways .The assessment :

Try to say your pieces with a New Zeeland accent .



It is WEIRD but beautiful.

They change the E with an I or some such so that the word EXIT will sound like IXIT etc .

No try to do this with the legislative measures towards which the tea party is currently protesting

Anyone from down under that feels I have misrepresented their wonderous English ,please I will take no blindfold .Just let me finish my last fag and get on with it .



( yes ,it is a joke -and Yanks ,fag is slang for a cigarette in case some of you raised an eyebrow )

[pmulcahy11b]

For some reason, I've always had this idea that Headquarters and General Pain are actually the same person. Hmmm...maybe this post belongs in the Conspiracy Theories thread...

[headquarters]

hehehehe

For some reason, I've always had this idea that Headquarters and General Pain are actually the same person. Hmmm...maybe this post belongs in the Conspiracy Theories thread...

thank GOD ALmighty thats not the case .

( have you seen his picture !!! )

But we have been gaming for 18 years and our brains "absurd recepteors "are finely tuned in sync .

Other than that - I would love to be at the heart of a conspiracy theory .

As for GP -he already thinks he is in one....

[headquarters]

heheh

thank GOD ALmighty thats not the case .

( have you seen his picture !!! )

But we have been gaming for 18 years and our brains "absurd recepteors "are finely tuned in sync .

Other than that - I would love to be at the heart of a conspiracy theory .

As for GP -he already thinks he is in one....

Also -please take a look at our subforums and tell me : did the same man write these

I would have to strive to attain the same mastery of grammar and misspellings that the good General has . Really put an effort in to work my way down to that level.

[avantman42]

That is a really easy question to answer from an Australian perspective - our TV and cinemas are completely swamped and dominated by American content so we hear American accents every single day of our lives.

Same here in the UK, and I suspect that's the answer. I'd never realised that Brits were better at American accents than Americans were at British accents, though.

Americans trying to do British accents seem to choose one of two accents - very upper-class, or cockney. This annoys a lot of Brits, since there are plenty more accents to choose from. I do wonder, though, is the opposite true Do Americans get annoyed that Brits always choose the same American accent

Russ

[waiting4something]

I always caught a lot of flack in the military, because my strong northern accent. They used to call me a Canadian. When I was in Thailand a Australian guy in a Mc Donalds there thought I was a Canadian too. He said I can always tell the Americans from the Canadians. I was going to tell him that I wasn't a Canadian, but decided to forget about it.

[pmulcahy11b]

Also -please take a look at our subforums and tell me : did the same man write these

I would have to strive to attain the same mastery of grammar and misspellings that the good General has . Really put an effort in to work my way down to that level.

OK, maybe you're both Higgins Or Robin Masters

Never mind, that's an old reference -- put "Magnum PI" into Google or Wikipedia and you'll understand...

[Caradhras]

Slightly OT

What annoys me about US shows is that the British/English bloke is always the bad guy - and usually talks like the Royal family!

A mate from my neck of the woods (NW England) was on holiday in the US and another tourist from the US (he was @ grand canyon or something) asked my mate 'what part of the US are you from' - obviously he couldnt have been English because he didnt talk like the Queen or the dodgy chimney-sweep in Mary Poppins

And finally - what amazes me is the Dutch and Scandanavians, they speak English better than us English! Many with perfect, if neutral, accents.