For all y'all mentioning Canada as some kind of hate swipe, I'm sure you know it's not a state ... yet ... just kidding - sort of ... One of the saddest parts of living in the UK (after the weather) is the jealous hate for the US.
ICE is no joke but if any of you know any immigrants to the UK, I'm sure you can attest that meeting the legal strictures and the living conditions for those people are not very nice either.
And, as ever, the UK hate for the USA on MN is sad to behold since you would be humbled to discover how much the average US citizen respects and reveres the UK as the fount of civilization. Seriously, they will treat you like geniuses and kings if you ever visit. But at the same time ... they've NEVER heard of Mumsnet! They're not thinking of you at all!!!
My home state (roughly the same size as Great Britain) is an amazing place with ski resorts at one end and beaches as nice as any Caribbean island at the other with miles of ocean front houses (many of which you can rent for a week or more) where you can literally walk out the door, down the steps into the sand and throw yourself into the sea (search Emerald Isle or Atlantic Beach). In between are lush forests with scenic waterfalls and teeming with traditional US wildlife like racoons, bears, squirrels and snakes - both poisonous and benign - and world renowned research centres (Duke University, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM) and several airports with 2 or even 3 runways. My state has contributed a wide range of products which Britains consume regularly and like including Pepsi, Krispy Kreme and . Michael Jordan started his basketball career there.
I have also lived in New Orleans which is, in its own way, as amazing or more so than my home state. I have also spent summers in Austin, Tx and Ville de Québec, oh, whoops, that's in Canada ... the 51st state to be ... maybe
I have also visited Alaska, Florida and states in between like Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, DC - not really a state..., Pennsylvania, Maine, New York City (not NY state)