dremble wedge

It's fascinating to think that if Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination and then the Presidency (a big if I realise) then the last time a US President will have sat in office without being part of the Bush or Clinton family will be January 1989 when Reagan handed over to George Bush.

We still had the Cold War going on then...

Aaryk Noctivagus

Thank you and Crook for your ridicule. How superior to the likes of me you both are. What big boys. What gentlemen.

Aaryk Noctivagus

I hope I don't ever get used to the likes of you.

TimR

Aaryk:

I don't like ridicule myself, and your comment about being gentlemanly hit home. I apologize for the tone.

I would ask you, though, to put yourself in my situation. There are several comments on this thread that refer to American life: they are a mixture of truth, partial truth, extreme exaggeration of partial truth and some things that are simply false. To say that the United States has more in common with India than with Britain is not accurate. Your comment is not the only one. And this is only one thread!

When I read these things, I have the choice to either: 1) laugh 2) argue or 3) ignore the comments. I chose the first in response to your comments. I might have argued, but this really is not a political forum. And that is just fine with me. There are other things in life besides politics and British film has been one of those things for me for a long time. I am a guest here and I intend to follow the rules as best I can.

I can hardly expect others to refrain from any comment related to American society or politics; that would be unreasonable and I am not in a position to make "demands" anyway! But for me to find a balance at this point, I have decided to ignore them from now on if they offer the potential for argument, as I mentioned in another post above.

So I will metaphorically offer you a handshake - I hope it is accepted.


Tim

Aaryk Noctivagus

The metaphorical handshake is accepted. The comments simply came at a bad time... I've made some very bad decisions in the past decade that will probably ruin me and my loved ones later this year, and I'm just realising last night that I made another expensive misjudgement only last week.

I was not intending to knock America. I have a lot of internet friends from America. The comment about parts of America being like a third-world country in places have been often made on British TV especially when the Hurricane flooded New Orleans. India has a huge disparagy between wealth and poverty, which is what I meant about comparing India and America... in that respect. In Britain, the standard of living across the board is more even (not at all even, but more even, I think) - probably because we are a small nation. This was an observation and not intended as an insult towards America. India is actually one of the up-and-coming proud Asian nations, and certainly not insulting to be compared with.

I hope this sheds better light on my comment rather than compounding things.

As for me, my return here was almost accidental rather than intentional. I come back and see Steve Crook's comment about me here, and about a long standing member in another thread (regarding an accusation of racism - whether rightly or wrongly), and I just feel that this is not the sort of place I want to be. There are some lovely people here, but its a prickly place and I simply have better things to do and problems to worry about, rather than feel cross or upset here when I really need to escape and try and relax.

TimR

Thanks.

I'm very sorry about the difficulties. I hope they will prove to be less serious than they appear now - and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I take your point. It sheds light - and does not compound things.