Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein in 1983. Respondents believe the US sold over a quarter of Saddam's arsenal to him Posted on 08/18/2008 5:50:22 AM PDT by decimon
British attitudes towards the United States are governed by ignorance of the facts on key issues such as crime, health care and foreign policy, according to a new survey.
Donald Rumsfeld and Saddam Hussein in 1983. Respondents believe the US sold over a quarter of Saddam's arsenal to him
A poll of nearly 2,000 Britons by YouGov/PHI found that 70 per cent of respondents incorrectly said it was true that the US had done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000. More than 50 per cent presumed that polygamy was legal in the US, when it is illegal in all 50 states.
The poll was commissioned by America In The World , an independent pressure group that launches on Monday and aims to improve understanding and appreciation of the US in Britain and around the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I had an ex-girl friend who had a sister who married a German national. He forbade his wife to travel by car on American highways when she visited due to the unbelievable amount of deaths by shooting that occurred on a daily basis on our highways. It was all I could do to keep from falling down laughing. Needless to say when we took my girl friends sister and her children on drives around the area, nobody was shot to death. We did however see quite a few animals who were killed by their odd practice of taking naps in the middle of the road.
No doubt about it. I’ve met Euros (Asians too) who believe movies and TV shows represent American life. You can even tell them they’re not real. It has little effect.
My English born and raised wife doesn't have bad teeth, but they're not great either. She blamed the NHS which she said simply didn't do a very good job of providing adequate dental care in the years past. Most of the Brits with bad teeth are probably of the older sort who grew up in the two decades after WWII when resources were limited. Remember Britain didn't go off rationing until some years after the war. And they elected a number of socialist governments which didn't help much.
Exactly. You have to remind them that movies don’t represent their countries either. It’s funny.
“My English born and raised wife doesn’t have bad teeth, but they’re not great either. She blamed the NHS which she said simply didn’t do a very good job of providing adequate dental care in the years past. Most of the Brits with bad teeth are probably of the older sort who grew up in the two decades after WWII when resources were limited. Remember Britain didn’t go off rationing until some years after the war. And they elected a number of socialist governments which didn’t help much.”
I was talking to a young socialist who was promoting socialized medicine. I said sure, look at how good a job on dental care in England.
She said: “Everyone knows that the English dental problems are because of genetics!”
The media over here keep on and on about the US arming Saddam. It’s no wonder that the people believe it.
Ahh, so YOU didn’t know either?
The UK didn’t go off rationing until 1951 or so. The war, loss of their empire and the enormous debt they owed to the US were part of the reason this went on as long as it did.
I have run into some unbelievably tragi-comic misapprehensions about the USA in my travels to the UK. One one occasion, my wife was strolling in downtown Hull, England while I was tied up in a lengthy business meeting. That afternoon, some obviously unbalanced fellow marched into a pub with a shotgun and murdered one of the patrons. This happens rarely in England, so the news spread like wildfire. When my wife returned to the office, one of the secretaries apologized to her for the unfortunate and upsetting event, but then said something along the lines of - “well, you ARE from the US, aren’t you. This sort of stuff must be comonplace to you.”
On another occasion, I had a chat with a restaurant waiter who had a burning desire to see NYC but was terrified by what he believed to be a rampant US AIDS epidemic leaving victims strewn about the streets of our cities.
I propose a hearty round of applause for Hollywood and the US media for their excellent efforts in presenting the best face of our nation to the world.
The best fix I’ve found for a Jaguar was to drop a GM V8 into it. Tends to cure those overheating problems too.
You do know your Jaguars. Thanks!
That just shows how little socialists know about science. Genetics...if that was the case half of the USA, most of New Zealand, Canada and Australia, a good chunk of South Africa, would all have the same problems!
Idiots.
It was a bit hack and slash in the early days for certain, and there is a shortage of dentists in the UK (some parts of it anyway) and I agree we are a bunch of chocolate junkies, but I dont have any problems - I get very good dental treatment (not NHS).
“I propose a hearty round of applause for Hollywood and the US media for their excellent efforts in presenting the best face of our nation to the world.”
Well, yes they really are to blame! Its everyones media of course. Even if they aren’t politically biased, they are all of them biased to sensation, so you are left with these very odd impressions. People really believe that guns are going off in the US all the time, and that aids and so on are rampant. Even my dad, who is not unintelligent, was really very disappointed when he first visited the States that he never heard any car tires screaching, like happens in every cop show all the time! Actually of course, we soon learnt that Americans are generally very careful drivers.
The profusion of articles concerning Muslims taking over Britain led me to believe that I might be seeing Imams screeching from minarets when I visited London a few years ago. Well I not only didn't see any minarets, in four days I saw pitifully few foreign-dressed people cavorting around the town. The whole experience in London was very pleasant. Especially the tour bus ride on the Big Bus (or the Big Black Bus...something like that). The tour guide was a born comedian.
Just don’t tell anybody. Especially your wives.
It's a stereotype, mostly meant in jest. Nothing personal ole chum.
Teeth are naturally an off-white ivory type color. Perfectly white teeth are examples of Human cosmetic intervention. Besides, McKellan is a heavy smoker.
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