America

[Sinny91]

It makes more sense if you look at the rivers as main arteries of transportation during the colonial era. The Hudson river valley is the eastern part of New York State, running north-south up to a chain of lakes that connect with Canada and the tributaries running into it from the west made the whole thing make more sense. No roads in the 1600s and early 1700s when this was all happening. Additionally, as noted above, lots of disputes among the colonies about boundaries. All the seacoast colonies originally claimed territory due west of where their north-south boundaries were located, ie., Massachusetts claimed parts of what is now NY, Vermont and New Hampshire, etc. There were attempts by some colonies to move people into new areas and then claim it was their territory; the area southeast of Cleveland, Ohio, near the Cayahuga River looks like it dropped into Ohio from New England, because it did. Same town squares, same austere churches and town commons, etc. It was settled by New Englanders.

Ahhh.

Wait until you disappear into the wilderness around Philadelphia. Are you any good with Welsh place names?

Hell no.. Too many LLLLLs, WWWWs and YYYYz - just why? - they talk gobbledigook.

Because we got them, big time,

How unfortunate.

right next to Dutch place names and Native American place names. We have Schuylkill, Manayunk and Conyngham, for starters. We have an entire Slate Belt in northeast Pennsylvania settled by immigrants from Wales and Cornwall and a bit of Ireland who came to mine the slate: Bangor, Pen Argyl, Belfast, and Bath, Bangor is so Welsh the high school fight song is "Men of Harlech."

Haha, yes from looking on the map, the whole of the East, most especially Northern, parts of America sound incredibly "British"... which makes perfect sense, but I find it rather novel.

All confusing. All good. Just don't go to Taco Bell or Arby's. Footnote: Pen Argyl and Bangor are the only places in America that I know of where you can order a pasty in a restaurant and not get looked at funny.

Duly noted ...

But yes, New York City is in New York State, although really it's not one city but five, each with separate governments: Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers, Staten Island and Manhattan. Just to confuse things more.

..Yonkers, lol.

Well this is turning out to be thoroughly educational.

 

[smithcommajohn]

But yes, New York City is in New York State, although really it's not one city but five, each with separate governments: Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers, Staten Island and Manhattan. Just to confuse things more.

Yonkers is not a borough of New York. The one you're missing is the Bronx.

 

[Kuu]

Most countries in the American continent are far too large to be generalized. Hell, there's several cities so populous that they're multiple times the population—and sometimes even land area—of entire European countries. Having said that, most countries/cities in America—or most of their growth—are relatively new and culturally hollow, and the increasing speed of transport and communication also has left them more homogeneous than the slowly grown cultures of Eurasia—which themselves are becoming more homogeneous with the perpetual "westernization" of everything. The "scenery" changes, there's some small quirks here and there, but the way of life for most people is pretty much the same everywhere, IMO. 9 to 5 rinse and repeat.

In that regard, here's some sweet Koolhaas for your reading pleasure.

I've always considered large countries inherently unstable, and city-states as the more natural scale of human government. I think it's more useful to see things in terms of urbanistic typologies: densely populated cities tend to be more similar to each other than they are to the suburbs that surround them; small rural towns tend to much the same no matter where you go. This in the sense not only of daily activity but also of technology and even culture.

In the modern world the spoon-fed concept of national identity is evaporating. The isolation of geography necessary for cultural speciation has been largely destroyed by air travel and the internet—virtual/augmented reality is going to make a huge mess of whatever remains of "geographic boundaries" soon. It's the lack of strong Identity that has bred all these myriad petty try-hard identities. Language and economics shall be—are—the last real bastions against the border fracturing and memetic pandemics of the information age. But I suppose some will cling to dirt and skin color and silly traditions to their bitter end. And the insanity of gender politics. With the way things are going we might as well be talking about franchulates and burbclaves instead of nations. Is McDonalds not already basically the American embassy abroad?

So yeah, you wanted to know about "America"? If there's anything to be said of it as a whole is that it is divided and confused, hot and loud and forceful like a ball of expanding steam, because there's really nothing solid to it; soon it could vanish into thin air.

(What do you mean you wanted some small talk about my daily life? )

From my POV, lots of North Americans refer to themselves as 'American', but the South Americans usually refer to themselves from their individual country of origin.

No mexican would ever refer to themselves as "American". Ever. Since it's a pretty large continent, it's pretty pointless to say that. Maybe latin-american. And of course the gringos united-statesians hijacked that term, so it's tainted...

I doubt canadians do it either. I mean, I'm not even sure Canada actually exists.

"American" only became associated with the USA because their name is too goddamn long to make a decent demonym. That and the Monroe doctrine.

Frank Lloyd Wright tried to make Usonian popular, but failed...

 

[EditorOne]

"Yonkers is not a borough of New York. The one you're missing is the Bronx."

Thank you Smith Comma John. I just like saying "Yonkers" so much....

 

[smithcommajohn]

Frank Lloyd Wright tried to make Usonian popular, but failed...

Usonian? Hmmm... not bad. That man was ahead of his time.

Thank you Smith Comma John. I just like saying "Yonkers" so much....

Where I grew up we had a department store named Younkers (pronounced the same). It was of the nicer variety so had good connotations. Yonkers/Younkers is really an odd name when I sit and analyze it. It's like what you call a group of people who like to yonk.

 

[dang]

It makes more sense if you look at the rivers as main arteries of transportation during the colonial era. The Hudson river valley is the eastern part of New York State, running north-south up to a chain of lakes that connect with Canada and the tributaries running into it from the west made the whole thing make more sense. No roads in the 1600s and early 1700s when this was all happening. Additionally, as noted above, lots of disputes among the colonies about boundaries. All the seacoast colonies originally claimed territory due west of where their north-south boundaries were located, ie., Massachusetts claimed parts of what is now NY, Vermont and New Hampshire, etc. There were attempts by some colonies to move people into new areas and then claim it was their territory; the area southeast of Cleveland, Ohio, near the Cayahuga River looks like it dropped into Ohio from New England, because it did. Same town squares, same austere churches and town commons, etc. It was settled by New Englanders.

Wait until you disappear into the wilderness around Philadelphia. Are you any good with Welsh place names? Because we got them, big time, right next to Dutch place names and Native American place names. We have Schuylkill, Manayunk and Conyngham, for starters. We have an entire Slate Belt in northeast Pennsylvania settled by immigrants from Wales and Cornwall and a bit of Ireland who came to mine the slate: Bangor, Pen Argyl, Belfast, and Bath, Bangor is so Welsh the high school fight song is "Men of Harlech."

All confusing. All good. Just don't go to Taco Bell or Arby's. Footnote: Pen Argyl and Bangor are the only places in America that I know of where you can order a pasty in a restaurant and not get looked at funny.





But yes, New York City is in New York State, although really it's not one city but five, each with separate governments: Brooklyn, Queens, Yonkers, Staten Island and Manhattan. Just to confuse things more.

Correction: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Not Yonkers. That would be bonkers. Don't confuse the Brit.

 

[Yellow]

But Yonkers is just first-stage white-flight NYC. You might as well include it.


I've lived and worked all over the country, and visited most of it at some point. Bare with me as I edit, and I'll give a quick overview...

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon, specifically). It is where hipsters came from before they were cool. I experienced a much greater culture shock visiting the rest of the country than I did living in London (though I suppose the nearly identical weather may have had something to do with it). If you have access to the show "Portlandia", I have to admit that it's an embarrassingly accurate satire of what the middle-class is like there (obviously taking into account that it's exaggerated.. slightly). There's an emphasis on environmentalism, liberal politics, education, services for the homeless, and being chill about hygiene. A large number of the middle class and upper middle class all up and down the West Coast are in the IT industry in one way or another.

Once you get into the rural areas, however, the West Coast does revert pretty heavily to conservative farmer culture. They have their guns, their homestead, and they really do have to protect themselves from marauding biker gangs on rare occasion (my parents' current town just had an issue, apparently).

Actually on the coast is the very best. You have the pretty coastline (real ocean, not that pansy shit where you get a tan), and a blend of hippy and rural values. They have their guns, but they like to get their fancy coffee at small, out-of-the-way cafes. More like they're split down the middle philosophically, and everyone just gets along (most of the time).

Lower West Coast (halfway down California) is pretty much the only part of the country that's foreign to me. Though I've known two people who've gone to East LA and were dead within 12 hours, so there's that.

---

I lived just outside St. Louis, Missouri while it was ranked the most dangerous city in the country (in 2006). Though to be fair, it was all East St. Louis that was double bad and the rest of the city was just average-bad.

The outskirts and rural areas were fine if you didn't mind everyone being closet racist. Like, I'd be talking to someone off and on for a month (like a neighbor or cashier or whatever) and think they're pretty normal, and then they something like bat-shit-crazy racist as casually as I'd say "hello".

The people were more depressed. They were fatter, they smoked more, they bought more lottery tickets. There were SO MANY FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS. I didn't realize you could fit so many into such a small space and still bring in enough revenue to stay in business. And so payday loan places.

---

Southwest Utah was interesting. Smack dab in Mormon land, but these weren't the fancy Provo/Salt Lake City Mormons. No, this was where most of the "illegal havens" were (i.e. polygamist "communities" of varying degrees of compulsion). Like, I'm polyamorous. I have no issue whatsoever with the concept of polygamy. If they're happy, I don't care. But they weren't happy. Those women looked like they were built to take a beating, and boy, did they. Depending on the community, some were allowed freedoms and only suffered normal levels of domestic abuse (if you know what I mean). Others weren't so lucky.

Anyway, there were normal Mormons (LDS [Latter Day Saints]) and Fundamentalist Mormons (FLDS) and they really weren't fans of one another. Because the FLDS embarrassed the LDS. But the LDS didn't really care for anyone else. They'd try to trick you with their secret code. They'd ask "are you LDS?" as if you can't figure out what that means. Okay, so the first time, I thought the dude was trying to say LSD, but that'll only work once. Some get really tricky and ask "when did you go to temple last?" That's a cunning question. Because any old Mormon can go to church, but Temple is invite-only. You have to earn a visit, and you have to be really special to be a member at Temple. They're big on hierarchy and status. A man can beat his wife and kids like dogs, and as long as he provides for his family, they have to be loyal and quiet. The second his income slips enough that she has to work, all bets are off. No one seems to blame her for dumping his ass for better funding.

There was a decent-sized Samoan community down there though, as so I mostly hung with them. Mormon or not, Samoans are chill people. I even learned a few words.. and then forgot them

---

The mountains in Colorado are breathtakingly beautiful. And weird. There are two types of towns up there. Poor towns and tourist towns. This is in the mountains, mind you. The eastern plains are steppe farming and the southern bits are basically desert. So eastern Colorado is Kansas, southwestern is southwestern (culturally) and, and southeastern is Oklahoma.

I lived in a town that was built on coal mining and uranium mining, and the uranium mining was called to a halt like 30 years ago. So it was a half-ghost -town 110 miles from a traffic light, surrounded by wilderness, a mile and a half into the sky. When I tell you it was beautiful, that's only because there are no words that can accurately describe it.

The people were monsters, though. There was no law-enforcement to speak of. The locals didn't give a shit. A pack of teens broke into the liqueur store, shot the owner, and set the place on fire. Everyone knew who did it, and there was never any charges or even an investigation. And one of those kids was my student and he was huge (18 yo senior) and he openly threatened to rape and kill me. I wasn't even allowed to kick him out of my class because he needed it to graduate. Anyway, the point is, there are parts of the US that are still really "wild".

---

Then Maine. I was on the border of regular Maine and Downeast Maine (the northern coast.. IDK why it's "downeast"). They were the best humans I've ever been around and it was so so beautiful there. The people were amazing. They were kind, down-to-earth, helpful, community-oriented without being in your business. Great place to find people to have sex with too. It's just so open and nice in an introverted kind of way. Also, you get to hear random New Brunswick accents, which are the best Canadian accents.

Anyway, they had no concept of partizan politics. I mean, they thought they did, but they didn't. Like, someone would say they were "democrat", and spout off libertarian beliefs, and then you'd get a "republican" who was basically a socialist, and it was adorable. They winters were unbelievably rough though. And they say "Jesus" A LOT. And the downeast accent is the best accent in all of the US <3. Oh, and billboards are against the law, as are large signs. And the average age is 41 in that state, and half the women between the ages of 40 and 65 are named "Karen".

It's basically the land where Dunkin Donuts and Tim Hortons made love and created the ideal humanity.

---

I live in The South now. I hate it. The people are the bad American stereotypes. All of them. Right here in one spot. And it's hot and sweaty all the time. And there are alligators. Okay, the alligators are kinda cool. But we could do with a little less concentration of "nopes".

---

Miami is fucking awesome. It's just a mishmash of slightly white-washed Latin cultures. Every lady dresses like a hoe and every dude is metro. People are load and their business all hangs out, but since everyone is doing it, then it's so much white noise and you can pass by unnoticed. The food and the music are great. There are big-ass iguanas in the middle of the fucking road. Just sitting there like you don't scare them with your car.

And oh god, they're wrong because the drivers... I swear they all got their licenses at Walmart. I think people need practice driving courses for certain cities, just to increase their odds of surviving

Boston, NYC, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC, and Provo.

---

I'd include Cleveland, but it's not the roads, it's the Reavers. There are Reavers in Cleveland. Like Firefly Reavers. I remember driving along once and they came up alongside my car, and they were literally missing two car doors and their exhaust was black and they have Juggalo stuff all over and we were flinging through the narrow underpass at like 120 miles per hour.. I thought I was going to be eaten.

---

DON'T GET OFF THE HIGHWAY IF YOU ARE WITHIN 20 MILES OF PROVO. IT'S A MOTHERFUCKING TRAP! THEY HAVE THREE OFF-RAMPS FOR EVERY ON-RAMP, AND THE LOCALS LIE TO YOU WHEN YOU ASK FOR DIRECTIONS. THEY WILL NEVER LET YOU GO AND MAPS AND GPS DON'T WORK BECAUSE UTAH DOES THEIR ROADS SYSTEM DIFFERENTLY AND NEVER INFORMED GOOGLE! THIS ISN'T A GAME! I HAVE SPENT 14 HOURS OF MY LIFE TRAPPED IN PROVO, AND I'VE ONLY GOTTEN OFF THE ROAD TWICE!

---

If you like driving until you think you're going to go insane, and then find yourself forced to keep driving because there's nothing behind you and nothing in front of you, you'll like Wyoming. If you want that while always seeing a tornado ahead, behind, or to the side of you, you'll enjoy Kansas. Bonus points if you can find a gas station without Neonazi graffiti in the bathroom (spoiler: there aren't any).

 

[Yellow]

... I said "bare with me", but I don't see any nakedness yet. Come on people, let's get with the nudity! Fatties first, of course, as is the American way.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

Lower West Coast (halfway down California) is pretty much the only part of the country that's foreign to me. Though I've known two people who've gone to East LA and were dead within 12 hours, so there's that.

Actually I would like to see you reveal more of this.

 

[Sinny91]

Hahaha, what a badass contribution, Yellow!

That fits in so well with what I've heard about the same places.. and is so frigging cool.

 

[EditorOne]

Good stuff, Yellow.

I'll pass on baring everything. You're welcome.

 

[TBerg]

People have a way of pushing the worst stereotypes about the South while neglecting the positive aspects. While much of what Yellow said is true, I will have to chime in to say that the racism angle is rather exaggerated by confirmation bias. I live just about twenty minutes away from the largest Klan organization in the United States. My best friend, who is from Honduras, went to college in this area, and has swore several times that she never experienced any weird stuff because of her different ethnic background. I have also had black friends stay at my house without noticing any difference in the situations we encountered.

I know these are not exhaustive data points, but you would think that something would happen out of the ordinary in the supposedly most racist part of the United States. And it should be noted that I have heard almost no n-bombs even in the private settings of supposed rednecks, while I hear it over and over again come out of black mouths in public.

 

[EditorOne]

Tberg is right, within the limits he set. I lived in the South for six years. I observed that 1. Florida is not the South 2. Atlanta is about like any other urban area 3. Small-town and rural South is where you find what most people think of as "The South". 4.While there are haters everywhere, there's a special class of bigot in the South that does not have any trouble with physical proximity to other races but does have a huge problem when members of that race aspire to social positions or economic positions that don't fit the stereotype.

To wit, blacks should not be brain surgeons, university presidents, etc. But they can live next door. And a black waitress isn't a problem. Neither is having black friends or even black relatives. Not to bore some of you again, but I attended a cemetery rededication for a Confederate soldier in North Carolina; both his white and his black descendants attended and had a picnic together afterwards.

Been living shoulder to shoulder with each other for more than 400 years, including, until 1865, in the same house in the case of black house servants. It has created some odd levels of co-existence that you have to see before you can even say "what the hell is going on here?"

Other observations about the South: More of a premium on social courtesy, that is, when the checkout person at the Food Lion asks "How y'all doing today?" there's a good possibility she/he will wait for your answer before beginning to ring you up. Social courtesy at the expense of efficiency, just the opposite of what I see a lot up here in the Yankee part of the country where taking too much time to socialize is actually seen as rude, because dammit wearallinahurryandtalkfasttoo.

But as someone up above in the thread noted, you can find exceptions to these generalizations everywhere.

Now, for driving, Sinny, should you have to do so, just remember to never hesitate even if you miss your exit, because if you slow down someone is going to run into you.

 

[TBerg]

Another data point: Our neighbor had Ben Carson signs facing out towards the highway from their yard.

 

[Architect]

You alluded to the main difference between the US and the rest of the world, which is the size and diversity. I think this is the defining characteristic of the US, which most people don't fully appreciate. I laugh to myself when I hear somebody saying they hate America. How can you? You can't, you can hate parts of America, or maybe how the US Govt conducts itself, but the country is so vast and diverse what they're really saying is they hate part of America. Some segment, which I say of course. With this much diversity everybody will find something to hate. Other countries are much narrower, if you were to plot the diversity of countries in thought, dress, habits and so forth the US would be the widest Gaussian, with others narrower. Japan is one of the narrowest.

This gives rise to the defining characteristic of very diverse people which is we're Americans, which means that no matter how weird or different we're still in it together. So I think American's are the most accepting of any other peoples. Work with us, we'll work with you. And with that goes the opposite, fuck with us and we'll destroy you. You can be indifferent to the US or go your own way, but don't mess with us.

Iran made this mistake decades ago. They interpreted our kindliness as buffoonery - big mistake. America and Americans go out of their way to help other people, but turn on us and it gets ugly. That's the main thing to keep in mind. Britain, despite your immigration, has a very narrow culture in comparison to the US. But you have the advantage (in this sense) of being the most similar to us. Anyhow the rest of the it is just details, we can talk for hours about the South, West, Midwest and so forth, politics, plus regional differences and other subcultures, but if you understand this then you understand the one thing that all Americans share.

 

[smithcommajohn]

You alluded to the main difference between the US and the rest of the world, which is the size and diversity. I think this is the defining characteristic of the US, which most people don't fully appreciate.

I agree with this very succinct thought.

 

[Analyzer]

I agree with this very succinct thought.

Brazil and the US share this characteristic. Although I would say the US has more opportunity to express your diversity, meaning more economic freedom.

 

[Architect]

Brazil and the US share this characteristic. Although I would say the US has more opportunity to express your diversity, meaning more economic freedom.

Hmm, I'm not aware that Brazil remotely has the diversity of the US - really? It has 2/3's the population and isn't the world's immigration destination for one. The US pulls the best from all over the world, and many others who keep their roots, while also becoming American.

 

[Analyzer]

Hmm, I'm not aware that Brazil remotely has the diversity of the US - really? It has 2/3's the population and isn't the world's immigration destination for one. The US pulls the best from all over the world, and many others who keep their roots, while also becoming American.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-08-11/brazil-is-still-the-country-of-the-future

Spoiler

Second, the country is extremely diverse, both ethnically and culturally -- and in ways that go far beyond its history as a Portuguese colony. Sao Paulo is the third largest Italian city in the world, and Brazil has the largest community of ethnic Japanese outside of Japan. Rousseff’s father was born in Bulgaria. In some southern villages, people speak German dialects and live in German-style homes. Another was settled by the remnants of southern Confederates from the American Civil War. The influence of Africans, originally brought in as slaves, remains profound, particularly in the Northeast

.

 

[smithcommajohn]

Google (if it can be trusted): what is the most diverse country in the world

The most ethically diverse country in the world by population is the United States. But the most ethically diverse country in the world by percentage of population is PERU. No predominate ethnic or racial group in Peru is bigger than 20% of the population.

Interesting factoid about Peru... hmmmm.

 

[EditorOne]

I feel compelled to explain something, in the wake of all the racial, cultural and religious hate coming out of the Trump campaign. (A compulsion to explain is why I was a journalist. )

Those folks shouting angrily at Trump rallies are loud, angry and represent a throwback not just to the 1950s but also to the 1850s. But they're very much a minority and they are going to die out.

You can see examples of tolerance, including indifference, on the streets every day.

It is especially prevalent among young people, many of whom (not all, we do have yobs and the equivalent of soccer thugs) find a lot of this angst and anger inexplicable and useless.

We're told by pundits that we've missed something important about the frustrations of all those angry white people rallying around Trump, and we should feel guilty that they don't feel served. Not me. I don't want to serve up what they want, which is racial superiority as the final word. The importance I attach to them is the same I attach to a mad dog I find in the street; be aware of its potential for violence and, if you get the chance, put it down.

That is all.

When are you coming over, Sinny?


That's all.

 

[TBerg]

Say that about black people who are unemployed and protesting and fighting on the streets, Editor. Why do people say that about white people when they would never do the same about any other group?

This black nationalist is more popular than anyone on the Alt Right:

https://youtu.be/Up7b2d12OBs

 

[EditorOne]

Jeez, I don't have any problem calling that dude a black bigot. However, the focus of a lot of people outside the United States right now is Trump and the Trumpeteers, hence the focus of my comment.

 

[smithcommajohn]

Say that about black people who are unemployed and protesting and fighting on the streets, Editor. Why do people say that about white people when they would never do the same about any other group?

This black nationalist is more popular than anyone on the Alt Right:

https://youtu.be/Up7b2d12OBs

Lol. Is that guy for real?

 

[TBerg]

Lol. Is that guy for real?

Yes, and he has ten times the views of anyone on the Alt Right. He has been involved in organizing mass unrest as well.

 

[TBerg]

My friends from Dallas, who are black, also said that Black Twitter was alive with praise for the guy who killed the cops there. But the Democratic coalition does not have hateful idiots. They also are much more refined and don't prey on resentment.

 

[Sinny91]

I feel compelled to explain something, in the wake of all the racial, cultural and religious hate coming out of the Trump campaign. (A compulsion to explain is why I was a journalist. )

Those folks shouting angrily at Trump rallies are loud, angry and represent a throwback not just to the 1950s but also to the 1850s. But they're very much a minority and they are going to die out.

You can see examples of tolerance, including indifference, on the streets every day.

It is especially prevalent among young people, many of whom (not all, we do have yobs and the equivalent of soccer thugs) find a lot of this angst and anger inexplicable and useless.

We're told by pundits that we've missed something important about the frustrations of all those angry white people rallying around Trump, and we should feel guilty that they don't feel served. Not me. I don't want to serve up what they want, which is racial superiority as the final word. The importance I attach to them is the same I attach to a mad dog I find in the street; be aware of its potential for violence and, if you get the chance, put it down.

That is all.

When are you coming over, Sinny?


That's all.

Not sure yet matey.

Editor, you're a journalist from the Newark, New Jersey area... You must know about Mob subversion in those areas, and some of the stuff I'm talking about in my parapolitics threads. Do you have a perspective to offer?

 

[EditorOne]

"Editor, you're a journalist from the Newark, New Jersey area... You must know about Mob subversion in those areas, and some of the stuff I'm talking about in my parapolitics threads. Do you have a perspective to offer? "

Most of the mobsters I knew were in Atlantic City and were low-grade strong-arm guys with names like Crazy Phil Leonetti and Nick The Blade Vergilio, who once offered to off our managing editor when our police reporter was complaining about him while in the same bar as Nick. However, they were mostly old-school Mafia, interested in protection, women, illegal gambling at a low level, etc. They were run by the Philly mob. They had a lot of palace revolutions amongst themselves but were pretty good about not getting "civilians" or family members in the uproar. They were barred from going into casinos when the casinos came to AC in the 1970s. New Jersey did a super job keeping them out of the actual casino operations and even from gambling; one of my cousins was with the State Policy unit that worked the casinos; that was addition to having their own security monitoring every table and everyone who came in the door. If a mob guy came in, he'd find himself escorted out by two big strapping troopers.
One of my uncles had to be licensed by the Casino Control Commission, as a supplier of furniture, slot machines and services. He had the devil of a time keeping his license after the paper ran an old photo, from before casinos, of him and my aunt, with a bunch of other people, at a dinner party with Philly crime boss Angelo Bruno. Anyway, the mob kept trying to get some piece of the action in Atlantic City, but they were smoked out of financing attempts, attempts to take over the local unions, and attempts to levy "protection" on casino suppliers. All they got to do was two or three steps removed from the casinos themselves, the same low-grade crap they did before the casinos were there. They prospered because the area, overall, prospered, and there was more activity and more money.
All that's probably not what you want to hear, but I think organized crime as a white collar operation generally sticks to stuff like mortgage loan fraud, where fuzzy laws make it difficult to pick out immoral and illegal from immoral but legal and where regulators do not have the balls and weapons, real and legal, of state police. When's the last time you ever heard of a federal Fannie Mae regulator going toe to toe with a mafia don? Right, never.

 

[Sinny91]

No, I wanted to hear whatever you had to say.

I've been reading up on the Mob endeavors in New York between the 50's and 80's - I don't know how long you've been in the business...

I'm currently reading up on the likes of Caspar W. "Cap" Weinberger, Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan & George Raymond Griggs etc, and various prominent attendee's of the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey and Lawrenceville School.

Know anything about a bunch of Saudis being educated there?

I know those are historical cases, but I also know that hotbed areas don't just cease being "mobbed up".

 

[EditorOne]

I started with The Press of Atlantic City, a 70,000 daily, in 1972 and moved on to other newspapers starting in 1992. More later, gotta scoot.

 

[Kelly]

Greetings greetings...I am new to the forum and reading through some threads for the first time.

I like this discussion and thought I would throw in something else...

I live in Oregon and spend a lot of my time in the vast public wildernesses that make up most of the Cascade mountain range. The National Forest system in the US is pretty unique...it is owned collectively by all Americans. There is about 190 million acres of NF land, which is about 3 times the size of the whole UK...the vastness is simply hard to wrap your head around.

If we are talking about different facets of American life, we would be remiss to not include the great protected and public National Forests. Journeying deep into a wilderness, knowing that you are 20-30 miles (possibly 100s of miles in some places) away from another human is a pretty amazing experience.

If you are ever cruising through Oregon, you should definitely spend some time in the mountains

 

[Sinny91]

Thank you, and welcome

 

[Yellow]

Greetings greetings...I am new to the forum and reading through some threads for the first time.

I like this discussion and thought I would throw in something else...

I live in Oregon and spend a lot of my time in the vast public wildernesses that make up most of the Cascade mountain range. The National Forest system in the US is pretty unique...it is owned collectively by all Americans. There is about 190 million acres of NF land, which is about 3 times the size of the whole UK...the vastness is simply hard to wrap your head around.

If we are talking about different facets of American life, we would be remiss to not include the great protected and public National Forests. Journeying deep into a wilderness, knowing that you are 20-30 miles (possibly 100s of miles in some places) away from another human is a pretty amazing experience.

If you are ever cruising through Oregon, you should definitely spend some time in the mountains

Gawd I miss Oregon. And mountains. The Cascades are awesome and the Rockies are awesome and the Appalachians are awesome, and all for totally different reasons. Oh and the Grand Tetons. And just about any formation in the Basin and Range. And the Smokey Mountains. And the canyons and the cave systems. It's a beautiful, wild continent. I mean, I guess they're all beautiful, wild continents, but US, Canada, and Mexico have huge swaths of continent in which their citizens can freely roam, so it's awesome for us.

 

[Joe13414]

I want to know anything you think is worth knowing.
GUNS ARE THE SHIT AND TERRORISTS ARE SHIT

I want to know all about the cultural/political differences/nuances between the North, South, East, West, and the middle.
BUILD A WALL

What's every day life like for you?
MCDONALD'S AND GUNS

How do you view America as a whole?
MORE GUNS AND A GIANT WALLMART

How did being 'American' become such a important identity, considering the continent is so large.. and some of you so far apart, are many of your peoples just not worlds apart?
WE HAVE GUNS AND FAKE MEXICAN RESTAURANTS

What unifies you all, and gives you your 'American' identity?
GUNZ AND FREEDOM

 

[TBerg]

Oregon seems so SWPPL. Thus I would probably like it, but it would probably spoil me.

 

[Joe13414]

MORE GUNS!

 

[Sinny91]

Are you all free to travel between states?

Do you need to use a passport to fly between states?

 

[E404]

Are you all free to travel between states?

Do you need to use a passport to fly between states?

No, there aren't even checkpoints at state borders. Just signs saying "Welcome to Utah" or whichever state, and sometimes there isn't even that.

There's a place where four corners of four states meet and you can stand in all four states at once.

You might need one to get to Alaska if you go through Canada, not sure on that.

 

[onesteptwostep]

It's possible that you don't need a passport because the terminals usually are divided into domestic and international flights. Can't be too sure on that though. I don't remember getting my passport stamped as I've flown through different states.

 

[E404]

You definitely don't need a passport to fly between states. The only reason for Alaska would be if you drove through Canada to get there.

I'm flying to Nevada soon and frequently go out of state. You don't need a passport. I've never even gotten a passport before.

You do need valid identification though.

Edit: If you don't have a US-issued ID you do need a passport to fly even within the US. But only for flying. You are still free to drive/walk/bike between states without a passport, even without a US ID.

 

[onesteptwostep]

You definitely don't need a passport to fly between states. The only reason for Alaska would be if you drove through Canada to get there.

I'm flying to Nevada soon and frequently go out of state. You don't need a passport. I've never even gotten a passport before.

You do need valid identification though.

Yeah, that's what I thought. I think for foreigners though a passport might be needed, because that's the only form of identification they might recognize from an alien.


edit: and this too: Edit: If you don't have a US-issued ID you do need a passport to fly even within the US. But only for flying. You are still free to drive/walk/bike between states without a passport, even without a US ID.

 

[E404]

Yeah, that's what I thought. I think for foreigners though a passport might be needed, because that's the only form of identification they might recognize from an alien.


edit: and this too: Edit: If you don't have a US-issued ID you do need a passport to fly even within the US. But only for flying. You are still free to drive/walk/bike between states without a passport, even without a US ID.

Yeah, lol. I realized I needed to add that after I posted.

 

[QuickTwist]

Some clever thing for Sinny:

https://youtu.be/mRP9_RYEQ4Y

 

[QuickTwist]

It's possible that you don't need a passport because the terminals usually are divided into domestic and international flights. Can't be too sure on that though. I don't remember getting my passport stamped as I've flown through different states.

Or you can just drive over to the state you want to.

 

[Sinny91]

Some clever thing for Sinny:

https://youtu.be/mRP9_RYEQ4Y

xD

Thanks for the answers.

 

[QuickTwist]

xD

Thanks for the answers.

Yup, contrary to popular belief Jesus was actually born in America. Well, technically, he was born again in America.