Posts by Max Divergent

67

Who's been around the most?

by blobby in

.

how far travelled are you?.

how many different countries have you visited in your life time.......................can't name the same country twice ....even if it has changed names.. countries on other planets don't count !.

Counting countries I've slept at least a night in:

Australia - all states and territories except Queensland (and who'd want to go there?)
US - FL, DC, NYC
UK - England, Wales, Scotland
India
Indonesia - Bali and Lombok
New Zealand
Ireland
Germany
France
Norway
Swizerland
Italy

Since 9/11 (when my old airline failed and I lost all mt frequent flyer points), I've flown over 100,000 miles. Anne's been to more places in Asia and the Middle East than me, add another 15 countries.

160

What are Americans taught about U.S and what do you really believe?

by sleepy in

just wondering what exactly americans (u.s.a) are taught about their country in school .do you really salute a flag, do you swear allegiance to the country.

are you taught that you fought for freedom, and that america is the land of the free, etc etc?

do you actually believe what you are taught?

Max Divergent

"If you really think these are cultures than you really havent had much experience of the rest of the world."

Any country has cultural difference within it's boundaries and the US is more internally diverse than most others due to the size of it's population and the fact of various indigenous peoples still being present.

But I don't think it's accurate to compare the cultural experience of moving between regions of North America with moving between regions of Asia or Europe. The North American cultural range is more narrow than on all other continents except Australia and Antarctica. There's nothing wrong with that, and it has real advantages. The only point is that without exploring other places a narrow mindset is likley to develop.

IMO, the more similar people are the more obvious their differences.

160

What are Americans taught about U.S and what do you really believe?

by sleepy in

just wondering what exactly americans (u.s.a) are taught about their country in school .do you really salute a flag, do you swear allegiance to the country.

are you taught that you fought for freedom, and that america is the land of the free, etc etc?

do you actually believe what you are taught?

Max Divergent

This sort of dosn't read right...

"The British are taught that the United Kingdom is the greatest nation on earth. The Richest. The land of the Free and the home of the Brave. We are taught that we are the most generous and charitable nation. That anyone man or woman can become Prime Minister. That anyone can become wealthy. That we have freedom of speech and worship without fear of retribution. The most beautiful and diverse melting pot of ethnicity. The Crown says give us your poor and wretched."

You'd have to use different words to describe the merits of the UK.

This dosn't sit right either:

"America is the only country that can be the greatest and richest and most free. Your country can't be the greatest, richest or most free becuase we're America and you're not. It wouldn't matter if your country had more greatness or more riches or greater freedom - we're America so therefore we're richer and greater and freer than you because we're America and you're not. Up yours."

I don't think that's what Americans mean, even though that's what they say. 'Greatest', 'richest', 'most free' are exclusive words, but meant in a non-exlusive way ... I think ... am I wrong?

If I were to say my country were the richest, greatest or the most free (or whatever superlatives I wanted to use), would Americans raise up in arms to say I'm wrong because my country isn't America? I doubt it, they'd probably say 'Great, can we come visit?'. (Or would they send a missle to prove the point?)

Max

36

Would You Buy A Lottery Ticket or Smoke In Front of a JW?

by minimus in

jw
friends

if you knew a witness was in a convenience store, would you brazenly buy cigarettes or lottery tickets in front of them??

?

Max Divergent

"Can anyone answer why since i have smoked and bought lottery tickets, why i haven't been reported to the elders, and been disfellowshiped? The jws saw me point blank."

Maybe they're just being humane and not saying anything - it happens.

If you're not associating and the elders have been told, then if you start going back you may well be asked about it by a JC.

Would I? I'd probably avoid it out of curtosy, but if it happened 'accidently' it wouldn't bother me much, though I may be a bit embarressed on their behalf. They probably want to buy tickets themselves!

Max

28

Is JW all doom and gloom?

by uninitiated in

i am in a relationship with a man who is jw.

the things he tells me leads me to believe that their beliefs espouse doing nothing to better the world as it is hopeless, and all is coming to an end anyway.

this seems like a cowardly way to face the hardships in this world.

Max Divergent

Doom, gloom, fear, guilt, worry, sadness, self-righteousness... they're all emotions developed by believing what JW's believe and living their lifestyle. One result is the suspention of all critical reasoning capacity in regard anything related to JW anything.

He probably really likes you (or is severly infatuated with you) to be getting so close, but chances are he'll either become an emotional wreak if he's caught out and disiplined*, or will just slink away from you at some point when he comes to a point where he feels he has no options. Leaving the JW's is generally not an option.

Chances are that he'll pull away from you soon. In the long run, you may be well off to accept that if it happens.

Ugly isn't it...

Max

* To be Disfellowshipped seems like being put on death row awaiting an inevitable death by God and means being excludued from all friends and family. You're not imprisioned, but might as well be. Any punishment short of that is nearly as bad.

16

Yay ... another exam out the way, just one more to go !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i've just passed another exam and now have one more to go before i can add "mcse for windows 2003" to my 'credentials'.

these last few have been a bit of a slog 'cause active directory and infrastructure stuff are not really my thing.

i originally intended to just do the developer ones and then added the mcdba because, well ... some of the exams i'd already done counted towards that, then i could just do a couple more for mcsa ... oh look, now i only need another ... well, you know how it goes.

Max Divergent

That's really great! Being in Canada would make sure you're always on top of the Americans!

I'm working full time and am struggling to do one unit a Semester! That makes it 12 years to do a 3 year degree... better pull the finger out - maybe unplug JWD :-) I think Aust has reduced the immigration points for skilled people since unemployment is at an all time low and economy growing 4 or 5% pa.

Good luck!

16

Yay ... another exam out the way, just one more to go !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i've just passed another exam and now have one more to go before i can add "mcse for windows 2003" to my 'credentials'.

these last few have been a bit of a slog 'cause active directory and infrastructure stuff are not really my thing.

i originally intended to just do the developer ones and then added the mcdba because, well ... some of the exams i'd already done counted towards that, then i could just do a couple more for mcsa ... oh look, now i only need another ... well, you know how it goes.

Max Divergent

Is that a four year degree? Where do you want to emigrate to?

16

Yay ... another exam out the way, just one more to go !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i've just passed another exam and now have one more to go before i can add "mcse for windows 2003" to my 'credentials'.

these last few have been a bit of a slog 'cause active directory and infrastructure stuff are not really my thing.

i originally intended to just do the developer ones and then added the mcdba because, well ... some of the exams i'd already done counted towards that, then i could just do a couple more for mcsa ... oh look, now i only need another ... well, you know how it goes.

Max Divergent

That's very cool. What are you doing at uni? Nothing in hands on computing I hope? If so, choose very carefully as there's not much product based stuff at undergrad level that's going to push you technically. Maybe electrical or computer systems engineering?

I went to uni with guys with your sort of learned background: some of them just swaggered about, scored 95% in every exam, won every prize but learned very little and came out as self-satisfied arseholes resting everything on speaking fluent binary or somthing. It's hardly the purpose of tertiary education, and may or may not pay off in the end.

For example, I was on a selection panel for a network admin guy recently. It was a sought after job being based in a resort town with a good salary.

We overlooked guys with Masters in Comp Sci, or a 92% course average in IT, or who'd consulted to Fujitsu and every other blue ribbon vendor and had a swag of MS/Novell/Linux exams, or who interfaced with computers through USB ports they'd installed up their their nostrils - we hired a former boilermaker who did a tech course in IT after a back injury. He's a decent bloke, communicates well, and will be useful to the organisation apart from flicking swiches to make servers serve and viruses die.

But maybe you're doing American Politics, or American History since 1215 or somthing interesting? :-)

I did an Info Systems degree, now teach IT (including CCNA [there's a fun exam for you!!], A+ and Server+) and am studying Law (the connection being obvious, of course :-)

Regards, Max

22

Test for Americans ... could you be British? (quiz)

by Simon in

(taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funny_old_game/3914531.stm).

1. a pretty london girl invites you up the apples and pears what do you do?

a) immediately accept - it's the best offer you've had in ages.

Max Divergent

...why do many British say 'Mack Donalds' when it's written 'McDonalds'?
Well, I knew Liz's sord makes you a Sir and that the sun dosn't normally shine in Manchester, but the rest of them I went d) 'Dunnno what you're talking about'!!

160

What are Americans taught about U.S and what do you really believe?

by sleepy in

just wondering what exactly americans (u.s.a) are taught about their country in school .do you really salute a flag, do you swear allegiance to the country.

are you taught that you fought for freedom, and that america is the land of the free, etc etc?

do you actually believe what you are taught?

Max Divergent

"Well, when you boarder only 2 nations, one of them being culturally similar to you, you don't really have that opportunity [to travel to other countries]"

My country is an island that borders no other (Australia), but overseas travel is seen as an essential part of a person's education and development to broarden their outlook beyond the narrower constraints of our little corner of the world.

I'm no rich person, but I've been to: US (Fl, Ga, DC, NYC), UK, assorted western European countries, India, New Zealand, and Indonesia. That's a prety normal range of travel. My wife has been to many more countries in Asia and the Middle East and we'll probably concerntrate more travel in Asia from now on.