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Time for what I think will be quite a fun thread, all about urban myths about our various countries.

And this is how it is going to go down. First of all, post up something you consider to be either a stereotype or negative view of a country, and then posters from said country can put forward the truth. Although a potentially hot potato, I think we are all mature enough to take this in the spirit it is intended in. Here is an example to kick things off....

In some States/Counties in the US, it is illegal to teach Evolution. Is this true or false?

Remember, this is a intended as a light hearted discussion. Please do not take anything personally, and have fun!

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Time for what I think will be quite a fun thread, all about urban myths about our various countries.

And this is how it is going to go down. First of all, post up something you consider to be either a stereotype or negative view of a country, and then posters from said country can put forward the truth. Although a potentially hot potato, I think we are all mature enough to take this in the spirit it is intended in. Here is an example to kick things off....

In some States/Counties in the US, it is illegal to teach Evolution. Is this true or false?

Remember, this is a intended as a light hearted discussion. Please do not take anything personally, and have fun!

I dont know about it being illegal, but i had a (ironically, biology) teacher in NM that got VERY upset when you asked him about dinosaurs and such. He would always have a quote from the bible handy explaining everything. I thought it was rather awkward. Besides that, he was great tho.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
In some States/Counties in the US, it is illegal to teach Evolution. Is this true or false?

Remember, this is a intended as a light hearted discussion. Please do not take anything personally, and have fun!

Here we go, how long until this train crashes....

Anyhow, no, to the best of my knowledge teaching evolution, by which I presume you mean darwinian biological evolution, it is not illegal to teach it anywhere here. It would be impossible to enforce anyhow.

Fair enough.

Any wild accusations about the UK in return? Or is this thread DOA?

All British have bad teeth. And drink tea. And eat food that the rest of the world finds inedible.

I heard that the Australian Navy will cover all the costs for any female sailors who want to get breast enlargements.

dietrich wrote:All British have bad teeth. And drink tea. And eat food that the rest of the world finds inedible.

Only most. We simply aren't as image obsessed as our American children I'm afraid. But Tea is lovely, and our food is wonderful.

I mean, Black Pudding. A sausage made from blood. Add in a fried egg, and it's Blood and Feotus for Brekkie. Lovely!

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

I mean, Black Pudding. A sausage made from blood. Add in a fried egg, and it's Blood and Fetus for Brekkie. Lovely!

Please tell me you made that up.

Hell no!

Mixed with Oats and Spices. It is *fantastic* food!

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Hell no!

Mixed with Oats and Spices. It is *fantastic* food!

So, is it like really inexpensive or something? Like the British equivilent of Ramen noodles that only college students eat because that's all they can afford? Or is it one of those acquired tastes?

It's part of a proper Full English....

Bacon, Sausages, Beans, Grilled Tomato, Fried or Scrambled Egg, Fried Bread, Black Pudding, Mushrooms.

Sets you up for the day! It's a throw back, ala Haggis, to when *nothing* of an animal was wasted. I guess one could argue it's a very humane, very civilised dish.

Doctor Thunder wrote:I heard that the Australian Navy will cover all the costs for any female sailors who want to get breast enlargements.

Further proof the Australians are an incredibly civilized and advanced culture

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:I guess one could argue it's a very humane, very civilised dish.

Or one could consider it the exclamation point on the generally held opinion of British food... I mean, you see Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Italian, and so forth on the "menu" of places to eat, but never a place offering "authentic British cuisine".

Doctor Thunder wrote:I heard that the Australian Navy will cover all the costs for any female sailors who want to get breast enlargements.

Technically not true, as they'll also cover the costs of any male sailors that want breast enlargments.

sebster wrote:

Doctor Thunder wrote:I heard that the Australian Navy will cover all the costs for any female sailors who want to get breast enlargements.

Technically not true, as they'll also cover the costs of any male sailors that want breast enlargments for their wives.

Fixed your typo.

Or is it one of those acquired tastes?

Bingo ! It's very much a traditional dish, so most places won't serve it. Is a traditional part of the full English experience though.

wiki


the battered and deep fried variant has made a comeback of late. We can fry anything.

Authentic British cuisine ? this guy gets it

And you have not had a roast until you've had Roast Beef with yorkshire pudding. Hmmmmm !

Question : Heard the other day the US police/highway patrol ( one or t'other) carry at least 2 litres of coca cola/equivalent in their " trunks" ( .. can't just say boot like everyone else grumble moan) for the express purpose of washing blood away after crashes.

that can't be right yeah ?

reds8n wrote: Is a traditional part of the full English experience though.

So it's like buggery!

reds8n wrote: Question : Heard the other day the US police/highway patrol ( one or t'other) carry at least 2 litres of coca cola/equivalent in their " trunks" ( .. can't just say boot like everyone else grumble moan) for the express purpose of washing blood away after crashes.

Nyet! This is not true.

Haggis is Scottish, not British. And they got the idea from the French.

Coke washes away blood?! Uncle Jack claims otherwise! There's many a time I've woke up with bloody face precisely because of JD and coke.

No no no. It's sodomy and that's only at public schools.

which are private.. go figure.

Doubted that coke one.

Okay : long standing tale we hear is that if you are in an accident/similar in America and require hospital treatment the first things that will happen is they will check your wallet to see if you have insurance. If you don't... tough !

that's not true right ?

Its not?

reds8n, in londen they check your wallet too, when you leave chances are they have emptied it :p

Doctor Thunder wrote:

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

I mean, Black Pudding. A sausage made from blood. Add in a fried egg, and it's Blood and Fetus for Brekkie. Lovely!

Please tell me you made that up.

Have you really never heard of black pudding?

Let me tell you about andouilletes.

Kilkrazy wrote:
Have you really never heard of black pudding?

I really hadn't ever heard of it before. Like lord_sutekh pointed out, I've never seen British food at any restaurant I've been too here in the states, and I never travel abroad if I can help it.

Let me tell you about andouilletes.

After black pudding, I'm hesitant to ask.

reds8n: If you are taken to the emergency care part of a hospital and have some kind of immediately threatening condition like a gunshot wound or heart attack they will treat you immediately with out asking for insurance, however, only publicly funded hospitals are required to treat a person regardless of the ability to pay. Private hospitals are required only to determine if the person has an emergency condition and if that person does, stabilize them until they can be transferred someplace else. Most hospitals in the US aren't public.

A common conception people in the US have about health care in the UK and other countries that have universal health care is that there are long waits and lines for treatment. Any validity?

PistolWraithCaine wrote:
A common conception people in the US have about health care in the UK and other countries that have universal health care is that there are long waits and lines for treatment. Any validity?

I need this cleared up to. I've had friends tell me that they have some form of socialized medicine in Mexico but it's terrible and it would explain all the Mexicans that walk/roll into the hospital where I used to work thinking we 'had' to do everything we could and more. I've also heard in Canada that the care is very minimal and your more likely to do from a very minor preventable condition then be able to wade through the bureaucracy, paper work and bills. You might as well go to the U.S. and get treated.

Can't comment about elsewhere, but in the Uk... no and yes.

You can book a doctor's appointment, generally pretty easily-- work permitting etc of course. And then they'll give you a prescription and off you toddle to the alchemists.

For hospitals it's a bit more complicated. Obviously in an emergency -- flashing nee-naa etc etc-- you're seen straight away.

For other treatment the average wait is between 40-50 days, but that can vary from region to region.

personally I've never had to wait longer than a day or two for anything, and these figures are also heavily distorted by waiting times for organ donations etc.

Generally it can be a bit of a "postcode lottery"-- think zipcode-- certain areas have longer waiting lists than others for treatments, sadly as is often the case, the poorer areas tend to have more ill people which causes longer waits etc etc.

Just to clarify there are also plenty of private hospitals etc as well, big change in the last few years is the NHS subcontracting some of their operations out to the private sector. The problem here was the private hospitals were/are cherrypicking low cost/risk procedures which also tend to be the quickest to solve, thus leaving the more awkward cases which also take longer to treat for the NHS to pick up.

So... yeah, some truth and you do of course hear some real horror stories but of course " man doesn't wait for appointment" is not a story so.....

...but... The NHS works. It's a bit creaky in parts but it does it's job.

Oh, and we get loads of stories about "health tourists" and illegal immigrants getting treatment too.

See ... our nations are so similar.

From what I hear/read the situation is generally portrayed as better on the continent, but from talking to people at the uni i think it's much the same really.

Except in Germany where it's very fast. past few years the right wing press routinely trot out tales about "honest hard working" individuals who were tired of the wait and went to Country X and was seen in .4 pico seconds and they regrew his missing left leg.

The British, especially our media, have a real tendency to denigrate our achievements and actions.

I believe we're the only empire in history ever to apologise whilst invading and ruling foreign countries.

If you want to understand the English at least, John Cleese summed it up best " The goal of every Englishman is to go to his grave unembarrassed".

Is all beer in the UK served at room temperature? What about soft drinks?

I like the way the French did it, or at least the place I went to. Order a coke and they'll bring it out in an ice cold GLASS bottle, open it at the table, and pour you a coke ( no ice ). Best one I've ever had.

reds8n wrote: Can't comment about elsewhere, but in the Uk... no and yes.

You can book a doctor's appointment, generally pretty easily-- work permitting etc of course. And then they'll give you a prescription and off you toddle to the alchemists.

For hospitals it's a bit more complicated. Obviously in an emergency -- flashing nee-naa etc etc-- you're seen straight away.

For other treatment the average wait is between 40-50 days, but that can vary from region to region.

personally I've never had to wait longer than a day or two for anything, and these figures are also heavily distorted by waiting times for organ donations etc.

Generally it can be a bit of a "postcode lottery"-- think zipcode-- certain areas have longer waiting lists than others for treatments, sadly as is often the case, the poorer areas tend to have more ill people which causes longer waits etc etc.

Just to clarify there are also plenty of private hospitals etc as well, big change in the last few years is the NHS subcontracting some of their operations out to the private sector. The problem here was the private hospitals were/are cherrypicking low cost/risk procedures which also tend to be the quickest to solve, thus leaving the more awkward cases which also take longer to treat for the NHS to pick up.

So... yeah, some truth and you do of course hear some real horror stories but of course " man doesn't wait for appointment" is not a story so.....

...but... The NHS works. It's a bit creaky in parts but it does it's job.

Oh, and we get loads of stories about "health tourists" and illegal immigrants getting treatment too.

See ... our nations are so similar.

I'm normally no fan of socialism, but I have to point out that there are plenty of long lines in most ERs here in the States. They'll treat you immediately if something is truly life threatening, but you can have some pretty bad, and painful, problems and have to wait in line.

My father practiced medicine for many years, and I can tell you that many of the "horror stories" about socialized medicine, at least from the practitioner's perspective, can happen here, it is just the insurance and managed care companies in charge, not the government.

Grignard wrote:Is all beer in the UK served at room temperature? What about soft drinks?

I like the way the French did it, or at least the place I went to. Order a coke and they'll bring it out in an ice cold GLASS bottle, open it at the table, and pour you a coke ( no ice ). Best one I've ever had.

No, the misconception here is we serve a lot of "real ales" -- I think you might call them cask conditioned possibly ? -- which if done right sould be served at cellar -- not room !-- temperature

Ideally you should be along the lines of

Very cold (0-4C/32-39F): Any beer you don’t actually want to taste. Pale Lager, Malt Liquor, Canadian-style Golden Ale and Cream Ale, Low Alcohol, Canadian, American or Scandinavian-style Cider.

Cold (4-7C/39-45F): Hefeweizen, Kristalweizen, Kölsch, Premium Lager, Pilsner, Classic German Pilsner, Fruit Beer, brewpub-style Golden Ale, European Strong Lager, Berliner Weisse, Belgian White, American Dark Lager, sweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Duvel-types

Cool (8-12C/45-54F): American Pale Ale, Amber Ale, California Common, Dunkelweizen, Sweet Stout, Stout, Dry Stout, Porter, English-style Golden Ale, unsweetened Fruit Lambics and Gueuzes, Faro, Belgian Ale, Bohemian Pilsner, Dunkel, Dortmunder/Helles, Vienna, Schwarzbier, Smoked, Altbier, Tripel, Irish Ale, French or Spanish-style Cider

Cellar (12-14C/54-57F): Bitter, Premium Bitter, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, English Pale Ale, English Strong Ale, Old Ale, Saison, Unblended Lambic, Flemish Sour Ale, Bière de Garde, Baltic Porter, Abbey Dubbel, Belgian Strong Ale, Weizen Bock, Bock, Foreign Stout, Zwickel/Keller/Landbier, Scottish Ale, Scotch Ale, American Strong Ale, Mild, English-style Cider

Warm (14-16C/57-61F): Barley Wine, Abt/Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Imperial/Double IPA, Doppelbock, Eisbock, Mead

Hot (70C/158F): Quelque Chose, Liefmans Glühkriek, dark, spiced winter ales like Daleside Morocco Ale.


Soft drinks are also served cold, if their from the spraygun thingy then you'll get the "ice and slice" question. Some pubs do serve coke in the glass bottles, don't know about septic side of the pond but the Uk manufacturers treat glass bottled coke as a more premium product and the water in it is distilled more times.

Most people, I'm relieved to say, just drink cold pissy cheap lager.

Oh, our adverts can be quite good too.

Grignard wrote:Is all beer in the UK served at room temperature? What about soft drinks?

I like the way the French did it, or at least the place I went to. Order a coke and they'll bring it out in an ice cold GLASS bottle, open it at the table, and pour you a coke ( no ice ). Best one I've ever had.

No, not at all. Some ales are served at room temperature and are largely flat, but lagers and such are served cold and fizzy. Soft drinks also cold, but the method of serving will vary from place to place. You can get a glass pretty much everywhere, my favourite hangover cure is a Goldsmiths Cafe 'heavy breakfast' (eggs, bacon, sausage, mushroom, beans and toast) with lucozade, in a glass with ice. Yum.

Grignard wrote:

reds8n wrote: Can't comment about elsewhere, but in the Uk... no and yes.

You can book a doctor's appointment, generally pretty easily-- work permitting etc of course. And then they'll give you a prescription and off you toddle to the alchemists.

For hospitals it's a bit more complicated. Obviously in an emergency -- flashing nee-naa etc etc-- you're seen straight away.

For other treatment the average wait is between 40-50 days, but that can vary from region to region.

personally I've never had to wait longer than a day or two for anything, and these figures are also heavily distorted by waiting times for organ donations etc.

Generally it can be a bit of a "postcode lottery"-- think zipcode-- certain areas have longer waiting lists than others for treatments, sadly as is often the case, the poorer areas tend to have more ill people which causes longer waits etc etc.

Just to clarify there are also plenty of private hospitals etc as well, big change in the last few years is the NHS subcontracting some of their operations out to the private sector. The problem here was the private hospitals were/are cherrypicking low cost/risk procedures which also tend to be the quickest to solve, thus leaving the more awkward cases which also take longer to treat for the NHS to pick up.

So... yeah, some truth and you do of course hear some real horror stories but of course " man doesn't wait for appointment" is not a story so.....

...but... The NHS works. It's a bit creaky in parts but it does it's job.

Oh, and we get loads of stories about "health tourists" and illegal immigrants getting treatment too.

See ... our nations are so similar.

I'm normally no fan of socialism, but I have to point out that there are plenty of long lines in most ERs here in the States. They'll treat you immediately if something is truly life threatening, but you can have some pretty bad, and painful, problems and have to wait in line.

My father practiced medicine for many years, and I can tell you that many of the "horror stories" about socialized medicine, at least from the practitioner's perspective, can happen here, it is just the insurance and managed care companies in charge, not the government.

Support of the NHS is bipartisan in the UK, it's not even considered socialistic here, if it was dismantled the right wing would be the first to complain. The NHS is one of the greatest things about Blighty, I myself have recieved a lot of wonderful care thanks to it, that I could have never afforded in the US.