Soul_Rebel:

You trying to avoid the crossfire and get a word in edgeways Soul? :1orglaugh

theKing:

Still more fucking semantics... sheesh... it's monotonous ...

No country is going to fall apart if it loses 5% of its GDP - just like it wouldn't significantly affect an individuals financial stability to lose 5% of their personal income. It would be unfortunate, but you would carry on okay. American tourists aren't as important as they act.

And most of that 5% is not coming from Americans, but from a collective of visitors from many different countries. Americans might only contribute 1%.

If America makes the most moeny from tourism, then who is really dependent on who? If a country sends us more $$$ than we send back, we're the ones ultimately benefiting when the total is balanced.

Remember how fucked Florida was when international visitors decreased after 9/11? It was treated like an economic emergency and they were doing all sorts of marketing and promotions begging for tourism dollars.

lol yeah i guess

i drunk a whole champaign and instead of typing slow as shit as usual I type ultra-fastt :glugglug


anyway passport aint related about what webmasters believe about USA. Personally it's pretty much hard to tell what I believe about a big country that affects world life in many section in a post. I admire many things about Americans and there are several that bothers me as well. When I decided to get involved to business I prefered an american education and I didn't regret it.

This thread is about the biggest most egregious example of wandering away from the original topic I've ever seen.


Refresh: "Non American's, what's your view of the US?"



My answer:

I basically like the USA. I mostly like the people. Most of them are friendly, but like anywhere else there are a % of idiots and assholes too. I defy you to show me any country that is idiot & asshole free.

I do have stories about my dealings and meetings with several ultra-stupid Americans over the years..... but so too do I have similar stories about some very stupid Canadians. I've met all kinds of people while travelling, and thankfully most of them have been top notch, and that includes the US.

It is you that is playing the game of "semantics" because it is fact that being in the Military does not preclude one from being a "tourist". Tens of millions of Americans have experienced this.

My husband was in the military for over 5 years. He was stationed in Germany. We arrived to Germany thru the airforce...didn't need passports there...but we had them.
We traveled all of Europe. Out of all the countries we traveled, we had to show passports when we were in Calais, about to take the ferry to Dover. When we arrived to Dover, they waved us in like nothing. Other then that, no problem. I have also traveled to many countries, where you show the U.S. passport, they barely look at it and wave you by......

Before my husband join the military, he traveled with his countries passport . He needed visas for France, Spain, & England.

And to answer the thread question...I wasn't born In the U.S., but I like the U.S., and I like the people, and accommodations that this country offers people....basically Americans are nortured & spoiled....I like that a lot!

CamChicks:

That makes a change from a troll CC! :-)

Yea.. the stuff you mentioned earlier in that there is a net plus to the US in tourism is right. The US does get a lot of tourist traffic and even the US at it's current economic level sure ain't gonna go bust because of a drop in tourism.

Nanda:

Have you ever wondered about that? :)

I've come to the conclusion half these guys would not know a valid passport if it was thrust in their face :-)

It is significant, but localized. US military on furlough tends to cluster around their base... for example, look at the communities that spring up around US bases in places like Okinawa.

In a matter of speaking, it is a form of tourism. However, because these people come to the base, it forms a sort of DMZ where a *hint* of local culture creeps in, but not enough to give the 'tourist' enough to have a finer understand of where he's stationed. Okinawa is a prime example... the environment there is radically different to that of Honshuu or any other part of japan, because of the heavy western influence. The heavily-visited communities around Paju in S. Korea are another example.

It seems to me that these 'cultural fusion' communities are part of the problem with US visbility overseas. It's in these areas where military personel 'act up' (get into fights, rape girls, commit crimes) because that's where they mostly hang out. As a result, people who're already distrustful of western culture subverting their own can point to those areas and say "See? Look how evil the west is. They come and rape our women there. No other place in our great land does this happen!" This happens regardless of the truth of the matter, of course... like many things, perception is more important than the facts.

Anyways, the point of the whole 'travel' meme in the first place is that people who travel the world and get first hand looks at how other cultures live tend to be more liberal, moderate, and less quick to resort to war or other agressive stances against the rest of the world. It's harder to want to kill someone after you've met them. The insulating effect of these 'base towns' from the real cultures reduces dramatically the effect of exposure to those cultures on military personel... which is part of the reason why the US Mil likes them, I would suspect.

Conversely, people who actually go to other countries purely for tourism purposes are more likely to be genuinely interested in other peoples, and will therefore be more likely stray away from the border towns, getting to the heart of those cultures and learning/experiencing far more.

I do not recall saying anything about a country falling apart...my point was that many countries on the earth have as a significant part of their GDP American tourist dollars...which indicates that Americans do travel abroad...in significant numbers.

Sixpack Joe likes to say that Americans are untraveled...when I have pointed out that many countries have as a significant portion of their GDP American tourist dollars...and also tens of millions of Americans have traveled via the Military and have traveled even more as off duty Military personell. In addition many Americans that have held passports do not any longer have valid passports as their traveling days are over...for what ever the reasons. My suspicions are that in raw numbers (because of a large population) Americans are probably pretty much as well traveled...via various means...as are the populations of any other country.

rickholio:

Noticed that! :-)

There was a "base" on one Caribbean island where I was.

They guys never seen much of the place, but on the odd occasion they were "out" we used to invite them for a drink and a meal. Hell - they were just kids and very naive :-) But OK guys!

theKing:

That is still utter bollocks no matter how often you keep coming up with it.

The US has much more to lose in this area than almost any other country..

I can tell you that in my country...they know what an American passport and different passports in general look like....are you implying that they don't?????

Also, when we were in Europe, we would have the U.S. passports in our hands when we arrived at the border......and they would just say "Americans...." and wave us by....

While you are in great part correct...many others do not "cluster". My brother for example was stationed in Okinawa when in was in the Corp (he served in the Army as well as the Corp)...for a period of time and he and some of his friends toured a large portion of Japan. When I was in the Military and sent to another country...I toured as much as possible...as the opportunity arose (and of course I was not the only one that did so).

They do this to citizens of many countries.

Of course....European countries...unfortunately not Latino, Asian, nor Africans....

100

Nanda:

Sure!! :-) Some immigration people have not the slightest clue about any passport!

One of the weirdest stuff which ended up as a court case where I am was...

Two US IRS agents visited here in relation to the possibility of getting a US citizen extradicted for some fraud case.

When they were in front of a judge, the judge asked for their "credentials", authorisation papers and their passports.

One question lead to another in court and it turns out these two people (a man and a woman), actually entered the country with false passports (duh?).

They were then detained pending further enquiries where the police traced their movements, prior to the court hearing and turns out they also presented false documents to a couple of banks to open accounts - presumably for themselves, but under different names. This is a criminal offence here.

So.. first shows that immigration people sometimes have not a clue :-)

The end of the story was ... they were charged with "whatever" offences and given permission to leave the country, pending the main court case.

Of course they left for the US and never set foot in this country again. There are still warrants out for their arrest here and they will be detained if they arrive here again.

The press contacted.. think it was the woman when she was back in the US and she "offered" a comment along the lines "I never knew it was illegal" Duh?

The judge eventually agreed to the extradiction of the US "perp" and he was flown by Lear jet back to the US to stand trial.

So.. second point! :-) It shows you how amazingly stupid even IRS people can be when travelling abroad on govt biz and using false papers and committing offenses. I doubt they are working for the IRS now? :winkwink:

Add Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders

Pig shit.

True! Agree! Are you German?

Really? Wow....

theKing:

Shutup troll - looks like you have the same intelligence as the two people I mentioned.. :321GFY

Read your own press troll - it was even covered there are well as the press here..

Nana:

Yep! 100% accurate! :-)

There are plenty examples of this, but perhaps not as outrageous as that incident :-)

I'm from the UK Nana.. but based in Costa Rica now. You?

Generally:

Florida: Full of drugs and guns
New York: Full of loudmouths
Deep South: Racists and African Americans (great accents though)
Texas: Think fucking JR Ewing & the preconception that the bigger the stetson the bigger the testicles
Midwest: Bible bashers that screw your arse whilst preaching a sermon
California: A mix of hot babes, sun worshippers & illegal hispanic immigrants
Wyoming: Full of survivalists
All the bits in the middle: Not that much personality.

American people that really piss me off: Ridiculous lawmakers and decision makers (ie patent office) that effect others.

TV Evangelists (The scum of the Earth)

Americans that dont piss me off: Loads to be honest and its 4am here and Im too fucking knackered to think of them, but there are loads.

Overall a thumbs up as there is good and bad in everyone but if I was to give a one line summary it would be "need to get out more".

From the UK

America is the best country by far but our leaders have gotten way to arrogant dems and rebublicans,,Republicans are the worst though.... I love the USA:thumbsup

Wow?

Canada, New Zealand and Australia are part of the first world if you didn't know.

:1orglaugh

What criteria are you using as the basis for your opinion?

I'm Colombian..in the states....Looking to Europe. (Although I like this country a lot, I enjoy Europe a lot.)

Are you having a good time in Costa Rica?
Hablas el idioma?

This does, of course, happen. I'd suggest though that this more pure, genuine form of tourism is not as common as the head-down-to-mama-sans-for-a-bud type.

Can your brother provide some reasonably objective number of, say, what percentage of his unit did that more touristy stuff? (I don't mean going straight from okinawa to roppongi either, that's basically just long-distance night clubbing!)

How you like Costa Rica? We've been eyeing it as a vacation spot for a while now. I'd love to hear a local's perspective, particularly a immigre!

I like America and Americans but those who have that "superiority" thing really need to loss it (although they never will).

And if I ever hear someone say "God bless America, and no place else" I will shoot them :ak47:

Wow! Thank you...here I thought they were in huts...running around naked.(sarcasm for those of you who think I am serious.) ..... :Kissmy :eyecrazy

Lee:


My friend arrested one of them! :1orglaugh It's still a source of smirking today.

Forget the name, but a "known" one who "ripped off" his "congregation". His ex-wife is still hovering around TV channels in the US now - that woman caked in makeup and jewellery... can't remember her name.

What was evident in the enquiry was the absurb level of hypocracy..

We all know the best countries on earth are:

Canada, UK, AU and NZ :)









Actually, that's just my view :Graucho

I have never asked him about percentages...but from my 12 years in service...I would guess no more than 30% tops...and it is more prevelant among the career/older types...as the nineteen year olds are all about getting drunk and/or getting laid. I was 22 when I entered the Army and had pretty much gotten that out of my system while attending JC. In fact I seldom even had a beer in my 12 years of service...but now I drink some cold brews virtually every day.

rickholio:

It's a good place Rick! It is just *very* different to Europe, US or I assume Canada. The climate is excellent tho there is a "rainy season" (but not much rain so far!).

The people are very friendly - that ranges from officials (cops etc) to ... anyone! Nothing is a "big deal" and they will roll their sleeves up and get a "hands on" - really nice people.

From a net angle... yea.. there is an appeal! There are no taxes as such for webmasters. The cost of living is.. pretty damned low:-)

From a tourist side... to be safe and out of the rainy season, it's probably better here when it is winter in Canada. That is the "summertime" here. There is loads of place to see... ranging from eco-forests, volcanic areas to "paradise" beaches.

So far, I think it's a nice place - especially for "quality of life"! :-)

People seem in general pretty cool... gov't is fucking out of control insane crazy fucked fascists.

Tammy Fay Baker?

That has to be a very very very very tiny country then if they depend on american tourists.
Only 25% got a passport in the US. By far not all of them travel every year.