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[benitez17]

Maybe you didn't get my PM in time or maybe you just ignored it and decided to publicy gore me. Fair enough, I deserve it for the tone and language of my post and I apologise for that, but now you've cemented the tone.

I got it and ignored it because if you had the time to write that PM, you had the time to remove or revise your post, or state publicly that it didn't represent your true feelings. I don't know what you hoped to accomplish by privately asking me to hold off on the reaming you knew was coming, but I wasn't interested in waiting.

The tone was cemented by you well before my most recent reply.

I've lived in America and we have a steady diet of american culture in this country, it's common for non-americans to know more about america than most americans (I'm talking about the 90% that don't have passports and the 30% that can't find america on a map, did you know more Canadians can find america on a map than can americans?), when I travelled around america I understood accents wherever I was and was familiar with the lifestyle whereas most americans thought I was Australian.

If you don't mind my asking, where did you live in the US, for how long, and when? We aren't some homogeneous group, and living in the middle of Arkansas is quite different than living in San Francisco.

Several of the most popular shows in the US are UK knockoffs right now, so I could easily say that we are influenced by UK culture.

Based on my experience, I would dispute your claim that most non-Americans know more about America than Americans, and your heavy reliance on stereotypes and internet fodder, despite your stay here, is a prime example of that.

When your country spans a large part of an entire continent (and you could travel to the other countries on that continent until recently without a passport), are you really surprised that most Americans don't hold a passport? If we needed passports to travel between states, the percentage would be much higher I'm sure.

You clearly managed to pick up just enough to knowledge about America to spew out an seemingly endless stream of disparaging comments, so congratulations on that. Also, I found no evidence supporting your claim that 30% of Americans can't find the US on a map. Here's one article that I turned up quickly: http://blogs.news.com.au/news/splat/...rica_on_a_map/

Even if only 3% of Americans can't find the US on a map, that's not something to be happy about, but your eagerness to stretch the truth or pass along unfounded rumors in the name of some good old America bashing puts your true motives and feelings on display, and understanding America isn't simply a geography quiz.

I think I'm qualified to have this discussion which despite what you think isn't me just trying to 'insult the country's citizens', seriously... why would you even say that? In fact that kind of statement is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Base sweeping emotive generalisations intended to discredit and undermine by appealing to emotion rather than reason. I'm insulting your citizens therefore my point isn't valid... come on. Even Bill O'Reilly can do better than that.

So, my ex-americaphile credentials aside, I think I have a point. But really I'm not willing to discuss it further in this atmosphere. It could be an interesting discussion about how the media communicate, or not.

You made broad, sweeping, baseless generalizations about how "the American public always falls for that kind of crap" and don't understand why I claim you're making broad sweeping generalizations, and why I am somewhat annoyed about it?

You've discredited yourself by relying on general stereotypes rather than data, or even personal experiences since you spent some time living in the US. Why would you do that, unless you were only interested in bashing the US?

I agree that that a discussion of American culture (both its pros and cons, of which there are many) would be interesting. It's becoming apparent that you aren't willing (and possibly not able) to have that conversation, which is unfortunate and surprising given your time here and the fact you seem to feel quite knowledgeable about the topic.

(By the way, I 100% agree with you about The Sun but unlike you I'm not going to assume that you're insulting the entire population of my country)

You don't have to assume anything because I specifically said that I don't believe that any segment of the population represents the whole, and didn't make any broad, sweeping generalizations like you did.

No it's not because they weren't relying on new investors, they simply spent money that wasn't theirs, if that makes them a Ponzi then so's the entire world banking system, it's not a Ponzi scheme no matter how it's spun.

They were relying on new deposits to keep the scheme going, which is where the Ponzi scheme description comes into play, even though they weren't touting the site as an investment for the depositors to my knowledge. Whether you think the description as a Ponzi scheme is accurate or not, casinos aren't allowed to take part in fractional reserve banking and must be able to pay out any winnings at any time, and in no instance should customer deposits be used to pay investors, whether we are talking about a bank, a casino, or any other business that holds money for customers. It's a scam, plain and simple.

Rhetoric and name calling doesn't make something true even if it sways and influences the uneducated masses. Some people fall for it though.

Who is being swayed or influenced? I asked you this already and you have refused to answer. Are you claiming that this operation wasn't a scam? If so, why?

[tke71709]

Just a reminder to everyone...

Be respectful of others in the forum. Differences of opinion make for interesting debate. Arguments and personal vendettas don't.

If people want to debate which country in the world is most screwed up (just leave Canada out of it damn it!), that's fine IMHO but keep it civil.

[JJMcClure]

]If people want to debate which country in the world is most screwed up

If people want to debate that you can count me out. That's not what I intended, no matter how it came across or was interpreted, nor would I expect something like that on EP. I don't know how to react to being accused of 'america bashing'. There just isn't anything I could say that would recover this situation so with the normally high standard of posting on this forum in mind, I'm not going to try.

In the meantime, did anyone sign up for any of the poker sites that the offer was for? My user name on William Hill is Mightyboooosh in case anyone wants to look me up on a table

[grynge]

I don't know how to react to being accused of 'america bashing'.

Just react the same way I do when you accuse me of 'google bashing' lol

[JJMcClure]

Just react the same way I do when you accuse me of 'google bashing' lol

One post being negative about the American media and the elements of the american public that lap it up doesn't make me an America basher. When I've made as many posts dissing as varied a selection of American topics as you have about google, then maybe I might start to look like an america basher.

In fact, ironically, it's exactly that kind of emotive passive/aggressive crap that Bill O'Reilly would use in attempts to discredit his victims and on which I was commenting. See how easily it works though? Benitez calls me an america basher and you just jump all over it, throw enough mud and it'll stick right? You'll never really get to know my point in any detail though, it got lost in the indignant outrage.

[benitez17]

One post being negative about the American media and the elements of the american public that lap it up doesn't make me an America basher. When I've made as many posts dissing as varied a selection of American topics as you have about google, then maybe I might start to look like an america basher.

In fact, ironically, it's exactly that kind of emotive passive/aggressive crap that Bill O'Reilly would use in attempts to discredit his victims and on which I was commenting. See how easily it works though? Benitez calls me an america basher and you just jump all over it, throw enough mud and it'll stick right? You'll never really get to know my point in any detail though, it got lost in the indignant outrage.

Why don't you start off by telling us what your point was, rather than snidely insulting me and playing the victim? I seriously would like to know why you are claiming that an article calling a scam a scam is irrefutable evidence of the stupidity of the American people.