English Is the Best Language in the World

<<That argument is frequently heard in the Mexican-American community, who have forgotten that they themselves stole Mexico from the Indians.>>

Apparently, the current Native Americans displaced ("stole from"?) earlier genetically-different inhabitants, too.

Damian, I must admit to being both shocked and appalled at the anti-UK sentiment I've seen in this thread; I had no idea that these sentiments even existed in Europe.

Anti-German sentiment is easy to understand, although do I see it as misplaced after all these years, but anti-UK sentiment doesn't really make sense to me. Would you care to offer a guess as to the reasons for it?

On a related note, it is a fascinating fact that while a lot of Americans have a curiosity about the UK, that sentiment is not fully reciprocated on the other side of the pond; in fact, anti-American sentiment in the Isles is alive and well, probably due in part to some foolish choices made by the Bush administration. Would you say that this is a fair assessment?

The Native Americans are the descendants of the Asians who crossed the strait of Bering thousands of years ago. There were not humans in America before them, but that is irrelevant. The point is that USA colonized (Northern) Mexico like Spain did, so it's normal that the Mexicans migrate to USA. Despite Spain was involved in the colonization of Mexico too, this country is many miles away.

Guest, it sounds like you have little respect for the current laws of the land, besides being hypocritical in your reasoning. It was all right for Spain to colonize Mexico, but it was not all right for the US to colonize California?

<<It was all right for Spain to colonize Mexico, but it was not all right for the US to colonize California? >>

Who said that? I just said that Spain colonized Mexico and USA did the same (with different methods and under different circumstances and so on...), but in the end if English is spoken in Texas it's due to a sort of colonization, period. Then you came with a digression about how Northern Mexico did not legitimately belong to the Mexicans really and thus USA was not colonizing that part of Mexico (maybe they were spreading freedom or God knows what). You tell that I'm hypocrital ( I don't know why) but you put in my mouth words that I never pronounced. Let's put it simple, I don't care if Texas belongs to Mexico or to USA, if the current status-quo prevents the Mexicans from migrating to Spain like other hordes of South Americans do and makes them prefer USA instead, then God bless the annexion of Texas.

It seems that some people believe that there are South American migrants only in USA. Proportionally there are the same in Spain, if not more.

"Then you came with a digression about how Northern Mexico did not legitimately belong to the Mexicans really and thus USA was not colonizing that part of Mexico (maybe they were spreading freedom or God knows what)."

Why, of course it doesn't belong to the Mexicans! That territory has belonged to the US for hundreds of years, and it doesn't belong to Mexico any more than Virginia belongs to the Confederacy.

Guest, my family had a very large plantation in Virginia that was burnt down to the ground by the Yankees. You had land that was stolen by the US. The Falkland Islands was stolen from the Argentinians. Germany had land stolen from it and given to Poland. So what?

All of these wrongs was decades or centuries ago, and dwelling on these war wrongs is, to my mind, crying over spilt milk.

<<Why, of course it doesn't belong to the Mexicans! That territory has belonged to the US for hundreds of years, and it doesn't belong to Mexico any more than Virginia belongs to the Confederacy. >>


I meant that Northern Mexico legally belonged to Mexico before it was annexed to USA illegaly. If you don't agree, think (despite it's hardly feasible) about Mexico stoling Texas back. Wouldn't you think it is an illegal act?. Of course nowadays New Mexico is no longer part of Mexico and their inhabitants have the right to be citizens of USA and not of Mexico, i did not say the contrary . I'm starting to think that you believe I have a Mexican agenda or something. I could not care less to which country the deserts of New Mexico belong to , whether Mexico or USA. And no, I did not have lands in Mexico nor my ancestors as far I know. I have plantations (well, my parents have) of nectarines in Spain. I hope the Yankees don't steal them to us. LOL.

Guest, maybe there is a breach of understanding on our parts.

I of course agree that Mexico stealing Texas now would be an illegal act. But I contend that a whole lot of illegal immigrants are justifying criminal behavior by crying over milk spilt 150 years ago.

Our plantation was indeed burnt to the ground by the Yankees, but if I were to go up to Wisconsin, break into Travis's home, and tell the police that,"Well, his ancestors burnt down our plantation 150 years ago", they would probably put me in an insane asylum.

But yet this is exactly what illegal immigrants do, and it must be admitted that seeing their point of view is very difficult. After all, Emperor Ferdinand ceded the area to the United States in 1856.

I do not want to be perceived as anti-immigrant, because I'm not. I believe in LEGAL immigration because I'm a strong believer in law and order. I'm a very strong supporter of the Guest Worker Program, and from what I've seen, it works very well and everybody's happy.

I'm really fed up with this fascist Spanish guy: his nick is both Armada and Franco. he hates immigrants and homosexuals. Vete a la mierda gilipollas

<<Anti-German sentiment is easy to understand>>

As far as I know there is anti-German sentiment only in UK among the European countries (probably in Russia too, but I can't confirm). These guys believe UK is the only country the Germans invaded or something. I've not seen so many people badmouthing the Germans in other countries , let's say France that was invaded by the Germans too.

Spain is just an insignigicant European country. Spain is as important as Poland in Europe. In fact they have the same numbers of deputates at the European Parliament

<<Spain is just an insignigicant European country. Spain is as important as Poland in Europe. In fact they have the same numbers of deputates at the European Parliament >>

Tranquilo tio, que te va a dar algo. Coge aire y respira profundo antes de escribir. No serás tú el que luego me va corrigiendo, porque vaya tela lo mal que escribes inglés. "Deputates ", hahaha. Menudo jumento estás hecho.

Jasper:

Forgive me but I'm suffering from a "Bad Day at Work" syndrome today.....you know, like when everything that can go wrong actually does go wrong...that's what today has been like. Ha! No matter.

I just happen to have had "problems" today in the course of my work with some people who were not actually from the UK...from two Eastern European (former Communist controlled) EU countries as it happens which I will not name....two such groups at different times and over different issues and the sheer cussedness and awkwardness from these people intermingled with a very obvious anti-British attitude throughout from both, and in the case of one lot just plain arrogance and rudeness which, in spite of my utmost professional approach and tactful calm manner as I tried to apply reason with them, remained as objectionable as ever.

I was interviewing them on two separate issues as I say, basically concerned with illegal immigration and the manipulation of and attempted fraudulent activities within the UK social welfare system, plus criminal activities they are allegedly involved in here concerning a whole range of offences which, unfortunately, is considerably more widespread among these kinds of people from abroad than is generally recognised....people who now have the legal right of entry into the UK under EU rulings so long as they meet with all the UK regulations and requirements necessary for them to be officially allowed into this country. These people I met today must have been the rudest and most obnoxious people I have ever met, much like a rat when it is trapped in a corner with no means of escape.

The diatribe of anti British hate and venom I heard these people hurl at both myself and immigration officials today, as well as at the police who were also involved, was something to behold. I've encountered loads of anti British sentiments before but this was something else, a new experience for me, but as they say, it's all learning on the job.

Then yesterday in the UK we had all the reports of bad driving standards and extremely bad vehicle maintenance of all the foreign heavy goods vehicles driving on British roads. There are many thousands of these Continental commercial vehicles driving around on British roads, coming over from the Continent via the ferry terminals and the Chunnel, and yesterday an official Government report stated that over 40% of these vehicles fall far short of the minimum basic safety standards permissible on Britain's roads. Dealing with these people, again many of them coming from those Eastern European countries, is a nightmare for the British police and other authorities. They can make themelves fully understood with British people, including the police and immigration people, when the circumstances suit them, but the minute they are being questioned or apprehended by both the police and immigration, they suddenly and inexplicably become totally incapable of understanding a single word of English, and only offer a shrug or a gesture of helplessness.

What's even more galling with all thse foreigners is that every single one of them driving on UK roads is exempt from UK road taxes, unlike the rest of us who are resident Brits who pay a king;s ransom to use our own roads while all these scroats can drive around anywhere and anyhow they bloody well like, and they sure as hell know all the ins and outs of doing it.

Even more tragic is the way some of them think they are back home on their own roads in their own countries when they suffer some kind of mental blackouts and drive off on the right hand side of the road and it's all too obvious what happens then. Even when they drive correctly on the left side of our roads they are on the wrong side of their vehicles and that's when far too many of our cyclists, for example, end up being sent to Kingdom Come simply because these drivers don't see them. One such cyclist was one of my friends back home in Edinburgh who fell foul of some Lithuanian idiot who thought it would be fun to drive along on the right hand side of one of the city's roads. Thankfully it will be quite some time before he sees Lithuania again.

I'm pissed off with being cut up by cars with foreign reg plates, barged into and pushed aside by certain Continentals who have absolutely no idea of the British queuing system, and all the other pressures of living in a huge city where a native born Brit really seems to be quite a rarity out on the streets, as it was today especially.

Having said that I am glad that we are in the EU, as I really love Europe, but there are times when all the downsides seem just a wee bit difficult to handle.

However, I'm afraid I have to agree with many of the comments some of those Brit Bashers have made, Jasper - the ones you say you were appalled by. It is true that large numbers of Brits, mostly of my own age group, and often quite a bit younger - basically the infamous 18-30 group for the most part - behave extremely badly when binge drinking in all the Continental holiday spots or in all those places favoured by British stag and hen night revellers. Young Brits do have a terrible reputation, worse than that of any other country in Europe, and even worse they show very little remorse or sense of shame and regret at all, and a recent UK TV show featured one such group (18 to 21 yo lads from England...it's almost always England, by the way, hardly ever Scotland, please note!*) in Spain behaving in an absolutely mind numbingly abysmal way while drunk out of their English skulls, and even after having the secret filming by a UK TV program organisers of their antics and treatment of the local people played back to them they truly shocked the presenters of the program by expressing not even surprise at what they saw, and said they would most probably do exactly the same thing again the next night.

They don't just confine this sort of behaviour to when they are on holiday over on the Continent, though.....it all happens much the same way back here in the UK......*much more so in England I really must say, it really does appear to be far more of an English problem than it is a Scottish one, which is a wee bit puzzling, because the Scots are no way renowned for their abstinence! No way at all in fact, yet Scots don't, on the whole, behave in the same way as all those English people, and it most certaoinly isn't confined to the guys either! If there is anything the British police really hate having to cope with in these situation on the streets of the UK late at nights at weekends expecially is dealing with drunken British girls whose foul language and unruly behaviour often can exceed that of the guys...I know, I've seen it all in action for myself.

So thsoie guys slaggi8ng off the UK in the way they did have a point, I can't argue with any of them. It;s my job to report things as they really are, and that's how they are.

Now on top of all this we have this Lockerbie bomber affair - we Scots really are in the doghouse over this, especially over in America (but please remember that out of the 270 victims 81 were non Americans, many were British, eleven of which were on the ground in Lockerbie itself. Our name as Scots seems to be mud but it's got absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with us as a people..it's the way the Scottish legal system works. The Scottish Justice Minister was acting within the strict accordance of Scottish law which simply states that any individual who is incarcerated in any Scottish prison, no matter what the crime, no matter how vile, took him (or her) there in the first place is, after every single consideration is taken into account, granted release from prison after it is absolutely and ireefutably proved that he, or she, is terminally ill, with absolutely no hope of recovery. Compassion then comes into play and with very little time left for the individual he or she is allowed to die in the company of family and friends.

It could be said that the Scots are now being penalised for being "compassionate" and "soft". The invective bile I'ver seen directed at my country today has, I fear, along with everything else that has happened today, turned me into a raving zenophobe....in a nasty "Foreigners go home and never come back to Britain ever again" frame of mind, which I'm certain will only be temporary.

Coming from Edinburgh, and currently working in London, I'm so used to being in the company of foreigners anyway. In fact, I'm one myself down here in London, sort of anyway, but not quite. I do speak excellent English...it's the language I speak with complete fluency, the only one in fact.

irrefutably

The meanings behind my other typos are easy to work out. I'm totally knackered right now. I'm going to watch a DVD.