Travel to Cuba by Americans is only illegal if it is for tourism of business. Any American can travel to Cuba (in fact, I think there are now flights from NY and Miami) as long as they don’t plan (the intent, not the result) on spending any money there. The State Department approves of contacts between the two countries, as long as they are limited to academic, religious, cultural and similar purposes. Any tourist can shoehorn themselves into any of the above catagories. The law has no teeth, except in the case of high profile business contacts.
tomh: thanks 
tomndebb:
you do remember that the first post i made was in a thread where americans were doing “buissness as usual” and making fun of one country because of the actions of one individual here on this messageboard. all well and said, that individual is a bit silly(know him). not reason enough though to attack the country he was born and raised in. that would be like hating germans because hitler used to live there(germany) or hating capitalists because history tell us they are “bad”.
ok, harsh examples, but valid ones. enough of that, old thread…
yes, a common mistake…and a stupid one.
no, “sickest” meaning “affected with disease or ill health and spiritually or morally unsound or corrupt”
its also the little things that bother me…not how and when you are arrested and jailed. but how people think. we humans inhabit every country of the world, but although we are all humans we are still different, not physically but mentally. our mind is trained in various ways, where most, if not every way is a perfectly valid one. but if we cant acknowledge that there is a problem.
nowdays we do need standards, standards that affect the world as a whole regardless of mental state or way of thinking(metric or pound system, roman inclusive or arabic numeral etc…). problem being that the us has repeatedly refused to apply to worldwide standards (acknowledged of course that us standards would probably work as well) and deviced standards of their own. this is a delicate debate of course and could work the same way for both parties. but generally its the us that creates this “problem”. the us also exports its will upon everybody else(that shows the slightest interest) and forcing them to use an exact duplicate of the will in america, refusing to allow others to adopt that will to the native culture and surroundings. reason begin that “it works perfectly in america”.
i dont even want to begin explaining how silly that sounds…thats best left for others.
bj0rn - wouldnt work in america although he works perfectly in iceland
bj0rn, “correcting”
to
appears to me to be quibbling.
As noted, I think people overreact to you and I don’t have any problem with you posting, here. On the other hand, you are quite capable of staking out the extreme position and then acting mystified when you receive a hostile response. Your choice. Have fun.
Tom~
thank you tom…i was copying from an encylopedia and i didnt want to leave anything out…hence the “correction”.
your overreaction, have fun 
yeah, im acting mystified…but not at the time i receive response, but at the time i read the original post i then reply to…
bj0rn - suddenly time traveling earns new meaning.
According to my information, the first electronic computer utilizing vacuum tubes was invented by an american postal employee shortly before D-Day. I think his name was Foley, but I can’t remember it right now. The English had been working on a mechanical model of a computer to crack German secret codes.
WE have been an extremely productive country in both arts and science. Our inventions benefit the rest of the world. We should be thanked and admired, not hated. The relative rights and opulence of other countries is really irrelevant. We stupid Americans are doing pretty damn good for a bunch of dimwitted philistines.
You board members from other countries can complain all you want to about us, but we are the most powerful nation in the world despite your dislike of us.
MrZambezi,
As I recall, the first device that could properly be termed a “computer” in the modern sense of the word was created in America; I thought by the army during WWII. They wanted a device to do trajectory calculations for artillery shells - simple equations that prior to that time were tediously worked out for all possible angles, wind speeds, etc. by rooms full of women who would compile the results in a manual for gunners in the field. The ladies’ job description was, not coincidentally, “computer”.
However, the intellectual work behind the computer was the result of many efforts by many people, a large proportion of them British. The first was Charles Babbage who essentially concieved of the idea and did a very good job of working out the details. Unfortunately he did so in the nineteenth century; the mechanical switches he tried to use were not really practical and the project stumbled. His contemporary, also English, Ada Loveleace, invented the first software for his theoretical device, even if it never ran.
The modern electronic computer was founded largely on the work of mathematician and logician Alan Turing, also British. One should not, in an account like this, overlook John vonNeumann either, who wasn’t English but I don’t believe was American. I’m not sure of that though; does anyone here know for sure where Johnny hailed from?
The point is, the computer did not spring out of American culture. We are, however, the ones who made it work. And I doubt very many other cultures could have produced Steve Jobs - the guy who said “we can take these things to the middle class” and made computers what they are today, rather than the hulking things that screwed up your electric bill that they were in 1970.
At any rate, the question is not (for most posters here) whether or not America is a good country. It’s a question of what our image is or is not overseas and why.
Mr.Zambezi, why the chip on the shoulder? The thread started out with general points of discussion and overall friendliness. The first hostility appeared with a couple of Yank posts about our alleged superiority. There hadn’t even been a genuine anti-American post until after our first round of bragging.
I certainly don’t buy into the “U.S. as Great Satan” mentality, but most of the rancor seems to be based on a “we are too, great”/“you’re not so great” bickering–and in this case, the bickering started with the “we are great” posts.
Tom~
im a human, you are a human. its simple and effective. we are all part of the human race. stop being competitive, trying to be better than every other nation in the world because every nation in the world is inhabitated by humans. thus you are trying to be better humans than everybody else.
everything you do and say is human, within human capability. even if you do something extraordinary it would be attributed to you as a human, not as a nation.
this is why americans are as a nation disliked. some people relate that to the individuals(humans) inhabiting america. that of course is wrong. displaying ignorance from that person disliking the individuals without knowing the person. i can say americans as a nation are stupid, but i also say that not every human in america is stupid. its just a chief export product for america(stupidity).
i do say you are suffering from some strange illusion mr.zambezi, for the greatest nation in the world could not include members of the human race.
bj0rn - human
Oh, I guess I just get irked with all of the folks who think it is so cool to bash the US. Not to create a straw man, but many people do think that dumping on America makes them seem more sophisticated.
In college it seemed like everyone who considered himself cultured had to drone on in world weary tones about how borish Americans are.
It drives me nuts. I mean, we are living in a really great country at a wonderful point in history. I am very proud the US and the discussion here just got me all keyed up. Especially the typical anti American posts of bjorn.
The implication that I am hearing is Americans are uncultured and uncouth and disagreeing with that premises is proof that one is an ignorant being. I strongly disagree.
“Hi diddley ho, neighborino! What’s with the lead pipe? a floggin for my noggin?” --Ned Flanders
and you are posting anti human posts…
enjoy your life
bj0rn - human = 0
bj0rn - american = bj0rn
ps. typical?¿? 
hehehe
Sorry bjorn, “typical” was not the correct word. Bizarre, incomprehensible, arrogant…any of those words would have been more accurate.
Ted Kennedy 1, Three Mile Island 0
Mr Zembezi,
Unless you are attemping to once again to stir the pot, the “we are the most powerful, inventive nation” crap is something we’ve already denounced.
If there is need to continue offering concrete evidence at the world’s negativity towards America, it’s born out of their principals.
In order for America to become the power that it is they have had to make the rules suit their purposes.
America is seen as a God-less society, religion cannot get in the way of making money.America does have the largest number of Atheists per capita in the world.
America has allowed free enterprise and capitalism flourish in the extreme. To this means, they have developed the latest forms of mass media manipulation, created a taxation system that heavily benefits the rich, refuted the most progressive world economy tool ever devised-the Tobin Tax , created untold enviromental harm, stepped on countless minority groups throughout it’s history, stripped nations’ and regions’ resources bare and created wars and funded military groups for it’s own purpose. Why??
ALL to benefit their own financial well being.
This may in part account for the distaste that exists for American culture as well.
I offer to anyone that a read of American Noam Chomsky’s published works will offer my proof alone.
Geeze, what bjerk! :rolleyes:
One good answer to almost any question is a better question.
Geeze, what a bjerk! :rolleyes:
One good answer to almost any question is a better question.
Well, I guess we know how you feel.
If I say America is great I am stirring the pot, but you make the above appalling accusations and expect me not to get upset?
The reason the US is successful is because we have successfully kept socialists like you out of office.
Ted Kennedy 1
Three Mile Island 0
Who said I’m a socialist?
you said
The Tobin Tax is a progressive economic tool? The current tax favors the rich? Sounds like you are in favor of wealth redistribution and further limits on free enterprise.
Doesn’t sound like a capitalist to me.
Oh, get a grip ** Mr Z**. You think other people from other countries should love America because you’re powerful? That’s exactly why people don’t - the attitude of “love us or we’ll beat the crap out of you” that some (emphasised!) Americans have.
I never touched him, ref, honest!
P.J. O’Rourke described the situation best when he said to think of America as a beautiful 23 year old woman and the other countries are 13 year old pimply faced boys. All they ever do is think about us but we don’t even know that they are alive.
I noticed the slur in this post when I first read it, but I was willing to give NightGirl the benefit of the doubt that it was just an unthinking slip. After reading her comments in the Mixed marriages thread in MPSIMS, however, I’m not so sure.