to think we really are 2 completely different cultures - the USA and the UK - just looking at the 'rebellion' taking place

[chomalungma]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8228769/Bleak-figures-China-US-economic-hit-virus.html

I know it's only some Americans. I know that it's a massive country with many many more people than the UK

But these scenes are astounding. People flocking to beaches. Protesting about lockdown.
Protesting with guns about lockdown

You just can't imagine these scenes in the UK at the moment.
Especially not the Ohio Zombie picture

It just amazes me - sometimes you think we are very similar to the USA, and then many times, you realise we are completely different.

They get children to recite the pledge of allegiance EVERY day in school.

But schools can't force them to. Because we have a constitution.

The reason that the constitution is so important to Americans is that it sets forth the basic organization of government, and then also puts limits on what government can do relative to individual rights.

Here is a quotation from the Supreme Court case that upheld the rights of schoolchildren not to salute the flag or participate in the Pledge of Allegiance:

""If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

The reason that the constitution is so important to Americans is that it sets forth the basic organization of government, and then also puts limits on what government can do relative to individual rights

The UK could really do with a decent written Constitution. I don't think we would do a pledge of allegiance though.

Surely the Constitution doesn't work? I thought it was all about 'checks and balances'.
That isn't happening with the Orange one. He is trashing the Constitution surely
Unless it suits him to adhere to it of course

Of course it works. It may not work perfectly, but it works.

@senecafallsredux "the right to bear arms" has worked so well.

Why aren't these things reviews and modernised? Just because a bunch of men wanted to have guns in the 1700's, doesn't mean that we should have all these school shootings now

Surely the Constitution doesn't work? I thought it was all about 'checks and balances'. That isn't happening with the Orange one.

It clearly is working. He has legislation he can't get through congress and the courts have repeatedly struck down his executive orders. The separation of powers is working exactly as intended and has greatly restrained him.

Can you provide an example of his successfully "trashing" the constitution?

I think every country should have a clear bill of rights for its citizens.

I think every country should have a clear bill of rights for its citizens

I totally agree

Like the right to bear arms?

That has worked so well with all the school shootings

The reason I don’t like to be @ constantly within a thread is that it’s akin to spam in my inbox. Once is fine. I just don’t appreciate that intrusion and if I ask you do it, it’s a simple thing to do. * * around my name if you need to bold it - that’s it.

They got so close to these animals. One swift flap of their flippers could have killed his children and left him with broken bones.

Oliversmum - Reading this reminds me of the absolutely horrific incident where a couple balanced their baby (I think he was about 18 months/ 2 years) on the edge of a a viewing balcony over a pit of African wild dogs at a zoo.

The baby fell in and was quite literally torn to pieces in front of their eyes.

They tried to sue the zoo (usual stuff - no notices saying "Don't balance your baby on the edge of the resining balcony wall", not a wide enough net under the wall, no staff tried to stop them etc). I think this was probably because they couplet cope with taking the responsibility themselves, but honestly some people never seem to use their common sense.

That poor baby's horrible death haunted me for months.

*couldn't cope, not couplet

sorry

Looks like the protests are growing

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8242387/Protesters-North-Carolina-Missouri-Alabama-demand-end-lockdown.html

And yes - it is still a small minority etc....

This is from Raleigh in North Carolina, a State which had its deadliest day in Covid-19 deaths recently.

And guns at protests.

@SchadenfreudePersonified well the parents were probably right. Why didn't the zoo have a barrier around an enclosure of wild dogs

Why didn't the zoo have a barrier around an enclosure of wild dogs

Because you don't expect someone to hang their baby over a pit of wild dogs?

• They get children to recite the pledge of allegiance EVERY day in school.

But schools can't force them to. Because we have a constitution.*

Plus, that doesn’t happen in every school and how is that much different than schools here doing daily prayers?

We did the pledge at my school but that ended once we hit 10/11. After that, rarely heard it again and heard the Star Spangled Banner only at sports games which I barely go to anyway.

*Like the right to bear arms?

That has worked so well with all the school shootings*

Love to see you try to get 320+ million people living in 50 states to agree on gun laws. It is why there is constant discussions and arguments over it. Plus, those states who do have strict gun laws have to contend with the states with loose gun laws because people can just leave the state to purchase them from the next state or drive to others. You can’t search people without cause or build a border around states to do so with checkpoints to stop it. I’d love for it to be much stricter but several things have to happen and be agreed on to make it so.

@chomalungma have you looked at photos of the scene? It looks terribly dangerous. No barriers, no nets.

There is a very small, short net to catch mobile phones. Thst would not save any human or baby. The baby bounced right off this tiny net and went straight into the pit.

Terrible safety there

@phoenixrosehere what schools do daily prayers in the UK or Ireland?

I have been to various schools in both the UK and Ireland, and I was not made to do daily prayers anywhere

@phoenixrosehere did you have the option to say no to saying the pledge of allegiance in schools?

@phoenixrosehere what people think is strange about the pledge of allegiance, is that most other countries do not make children, recite their devotion to the national flag every day.

It is scary, nationalistic behaviour. And it does give rise to nationalism. For example if I am ever in an online group with people from all over the world, the Americans will say to me, every time, "what state are you from", they don't even consider that I might be from another country.

And any time that I have visited America, there has always been loads of talk there about America being the best, better than all the rest, all the other countries are backwards and uselessz

It is kind of scary behaviour

And any time that I have visited America, there has always been loads of talk there about America being the best, better than all the rest, all the other countries are backwards and uselessz

And yet surely everyone knows the UK is the best......

Plus, that doesn’t happen in every school and how is that much different than schools here doing daily prayers

That is of course a whole new debate - and one that I agree with - we shouldn't be having daily Collective worship in schools.

@chomalungma where is there collective daily worship in school? There wasn't in my UK school

@phoenixrosehere I still want to know - did you have the option to say the pledge of allegiance in school, were you able to say that you didn't want to say it?