Egads! It's the "Only In America" thread!

[JeremyR]

Ok, so I thought I'd start a thread for some of the weird and wacky Only In America type stuff that I've seen recently, some of which just beggars belief.

First off, I give you the hightly absorbent...

Doggie Diapers!
Yes, they're for your DOG! Why train man's best friend to hold it till an appropriate time when you can just take away their last shred of dignity instead! The easy life is just $10.99 away!

[PopUpPirate]

Ruddy nora, hows life over there Jeremy anyroads? Settling in? Offended by ridiculously HUGE portions of food?

[JeremyR]

Ruddy nora, hows life over there Jeremy anyroads? Settling in? Offended by ridiculously HUGE portions of food?

Going good ta Been a bit of a rough ride because of some "Real World S**t" but that can't be helped. Great weather, friendly people (believe it or not, I'm in the part of the US with actual polite people!). Huuuge portions are good. As any of those I met will testify, I could do with a few extra lb's

Finding me feet caching wise too, learning about 'good hiders' and the likes, and more importantly learning how to avoid LPC's . Got a few on my To-Do One Day list too, like this one (check the age of it )...

Planning to put a cache out too (gonna start a thread about that ) but I'm discovering that a lot of this area's best spots are proximity locked

[JeremyR]

Ok, here's two more for all you Sane people back in Sane Land

The first is fairly well known, I think but:
Crossing the road in Atlanta (and most other cities) could get you arrested

Second, hand-delivering a letter by dropping it in someone's mailbox is a federal offence and could also get you arrested. Unless, that is, you put a stamp on it.

[scorpionqueen]

errrrrrrrrrrrr i love Britain and you have quoted some of the reasons why, how do you manage the laws between states is there a book or something that you can look at or do you just stay at home just in case. Give us more as i find it fasinating its just like our old English laws eg, men between the ages of ? and ? must practice 1 hour of archery every morning, eh right did they not work in those days and what did the women have to practise i dread to think now now its was proberly hand sewing or something equally boring (o sh** sorry to those of you that like sewing by hand) id rather















play with

the dogs. and you know what i mean with a stick or a ball (do i ever stop dropping myself in it)hehehehe

[JeremyR]

In the interests of balance, here's something useful they came up with... Only in America (as far as I know) can you turn right against a red traffic light and not get a ticket. Turning right at a red light (think of it as turning left in the UK) is perfectly legal at most junctions and in most states if nothing is coming from the other direction.

[JeremyR]

Christmas in July, anyone?!

[JeremyR]

Here's one. Only in America (the land where they once tried to outlaw the stuff cos' it's evil) can buying alcohol be such a pain in the ass.

(1) It doesn't matter how old you are, 21 or 1021, they require ID to make sure you're not underage.
(2) Most stores input the unique number of your driver's license into their ePOS system under the premise of recording that they've seen proof of age. You just know they're using the ID regulations to gather marketing data...
(3) If you actually manage to buy the damn stuff then you're not allowed to walk out of the store without putting it in a silly (and very obvious) paper bag, so that people don't know what you've bought.
(4) You can't buy alcohol on a Sunday, lest you offend the Lord or something...
(4) You can't buy alcohol on a polling day either, the whole country must be sober to cast a ballot, it seems (and they still voted Bush back in!!!)

And doubtless many other silly laws I haven't come across yet...

[JeremyR]

This might just be the best/worst yet.

Only in America, (or Texas to be precise, my wife insists they're a different breed) can teachers carry guns in schools.

I mean, what in the name of **** do they think they're doing?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Absolutely beggars belief.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7564654.stm

[PopUpPirate]

The jaywalking one, and the turning at traffic lights, I was aware of, but not t'others. Isn't there a museum to the electric chair in Texas?

[FFloss]

It was, of course, in America where they passed a law to fix the value of pi to 3 !!!

Ffloss

[PopUpPirate]

Mind, in Saundersfoot we saw these daft things :

http://www.sweatex.co.uk/sweatex%20packet3men.jpg

[JeremyR]

http://www.sweatex.co.uk/sweatex%20packet3men.jpg

The mind boggles... Have they not got Right Guard there or something?


Around the world, the Olympic medal table is being portrayed in the proper way. Ordered by number of gold medals won, using silver and bronze to sort out ties. Currently the top three are China, USA and GB respectively. Except in America. Here, NBC (the Olympic broadcaster) insist on ordering the table based on raw medals won, such that 4 bronze medals is considered better than 3 gold medals. I wonder if that's anything to do with the fact that if you use that method, the Americans just so happen to jump above the Chinese in the table I've discovered that America really doesn't take kindly to being beaten by communist nations

[10point9]

wonder if that's anything to do with the fact that if you use that method, the Americans just so happen to jump above the Chinese in the table

Lies, da*m* lies and statistics?

[The Syllogiser]

So it's off to Google Earth and seach for ....... Luecke ...... "only in America"

[JeremyR]

Egads, it's bin a while so time for another one...

Only in America can a child be arrested, charged and remanded for a crime in which they are both the perpetrator and the victim

Don't believe me? Here you go:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/08 ... hone_pics/

[clotguy]

Egads, it's bin a while so time for another one...

Only in America can a child be arrested, charged and remanded for a crime in which they are both the perpetrator and the victim

Don't believe me? Here you go:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/08 ... hone_pics/

...The unnamed student from Licking Valley High School .....

/stands back and awaits inuendo laden comments

[JeremyR]

<Peter Kay> Yellow blu-tack? Yellow?! YELLOW? blu-tack?!
Hey, it's a sticky sensation this! </Peter Kay>

(yes, blu-tack is yellow here. Don't ask me why )

[HazelS]

I love these Jeremy....
So does my mum, who hasn't lived in Ohio since she was 18 but still laughs herself silly at some of these!!

Keep em coming!

[FFloss]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/17/god_lawsuit_dismissed/

[JeremyR]

This one could be the best Only In America ever. Suffice to say, it's something I saw in Wal-Mart in amongst the quaint 'ye olde village shop' type clay Christmas models.




Don't believe it's real? Think you could never buy such a wonderful piece of absolute and total crap? Look at this:


The bloody thing even has a little clay 'Welcome to Wal-Mart' Greeter stood outside!

[El Aguila]

Don't know if I missed it - but what are LPC's?

Over here in Spain where I am you don't try to cross the road unless there are no cars or you are on a crossing with lights - drivers don't see crossings - I have before now stopped at a crossing to let someone cross only to see drivers zip past me then suddenly realise there is actually someone using the crossing.

One crazy thing is crossings are usually placed near a junction - it's not unusual to go around a roundabout and have to stop quick as someone is on the crossing or at a T junction they are placed right on the junction.

The only time you see cars being controlled is when schools start or finish and then you will see two or more Policia Local controlling the traffic always accompanied by shrill blasts from a whistle - can be quite funny when there are four or more police controlling a crossing each - you don't know who is whistling at who.

[The Bolas Heathens]

Lamp Post Caches. They are to be found in urban areas in the USA due to the odd covers they have over the bolts on lighting poles in car parks.

Always a dead easy find but they make a heck of a loud screaching sound as you lift them up (which is amplified along the length of the lighting pole).

Don't know if I missed it - but what are LPC's?

[JeremyR]

Lamp Post Caches. They are to be found in urban areas in the USA due to the odd covers they have over the bolts on lighting poles in car parks.

Always a dead easy find but they make a heck of a loud screaching sound as you lift them up (which is amplified along the length of the lighting pole).

And this is how to avoid them: Always check Google Satellite!

This particular gem is actually a satirical side swipe at other LPCs (although it still is one) in the car park of Alpharetta's Home Depot (B&Q)

[JeremyR]

Only in America will you find the bloody imperial system in everday use. Well, two countries actually, Burma/Myanmar hasn't switched to metric yet either. It's the USA's sole Imperial Buddy

Stupid thing is, they don't use yards or stones either so everything has to be quantified in feet or pounds.

[JeremyR]

Here's a weird one for you:

It is legal for an American citizen to have sex at the age of twelve (!!!) but... you have to be overseas to do the deed

(Inside the country, the age of consent varies by state between 14 and 18)

[JeremyR]

Heaven's Above!!! (South Dakota, FWIW )

So that's:
A baseball cap
A Harley sweater
Blue jeans
Boots
A bottle of moonshine in one hand
A rifle in t'other...

Could this man be any closer to the American Stereotype?
Taken from Google Streetview, courtesy of El Reg. Original Linky so you can see it's real.

[PopUpPirate]

Wow! That's ace! Just panned around him on the link, doing the rounds at work now!!

[Bill Seiko]

Wish we still used pounds and feet in Uk instead of the Euro rubbish. I am British and proud of it. Hate the Euro ideas. And gun crime is nearly as bad in Uk as in US, but over here they don't bother with licences but just shoot young kids.
Can you guess I like US and US people.

Bill

[PopUpPirate]

Having been brought up with Metric, it just makes so much more sense to me!

It's all 1's and 0's, and it ties together so well!

1000cm cubed of water (ie, a box 10cm x 10cm x 10cm) weighs exactly 1kg and is 1 litre in volume.

Even I get that!

[bargee72]

I agree Pup. metric does make sense

but I still have to buy timber in inches ie 4 by 2

i can never work out how heavy someone is in kg though but then again how heavy is 145lbs? stones and pounds work for me, i understand what a 20stone bloke looks like... ie me!!

i would hate to go back to setting out our buildings in yards feet and 1/8th of inches.

so both systems can work in parallel, metric when you want to be precise and imperial as a guide

[The Bolas Heathens]

I'm the same as Iain. I grew up being taught metric at school but always think in terms of imperial. I know how to picture someone in stones, but not in kg. I know how far to the cache in ft / yards, but not in metres. I know how fast I'm going in mph but kph means nothing to me. I know how hot it is in F but temperatures in C do not mean much.

In fact, the US way of doing things suits me just fine .

so both systems can work in parallel, metric when you want to be precise and imperial as a guide

[FFloss]

Metric, it just makes so much more sense to me!

It's all 1's and 0's, and it ties together so well!

1000cm cubed of water (ie, a box 10cm x 10cm x 10cm) weighs exactly 1kg and is 1 litre in volume.

I think it is only superficially simpler. 10 is only divisible by 2 and 5: 12 is divisible by 2, 3 and 4 which makes it a much more practical base to use. The ancient Babylonians counted in base 60 which is in some ways even better (also divisble by 5): the remnants of this are still there in the French language.

I was brought up with pounds, shillings and ounces. At work we use a right mixture, mostly metric but then we also get measurements & specifications in knots, thousands of feet and occasionally even feet per minute (I kid you not). On the whole I think I can cope with what comes along, but I'm with Bargee in that people's weights only make sense in stone.

[janw7256]

I'm not metric at all. I can visualise a metre cos its similiar(ish) to a yard, but thats it.

What I've always found amusing though, is that we've been teaching our kids metric measurements in this country for the last 20+ years, but when I'm in work & ask someone how tall they are, they always give me their height in feet & inches - regardless of how old (or young) they are.

[JeremyR]

I'm the same, you'll always get people's heights in feet and inches and weights in stones from me (although Americans don't use stones so I guess it'll eventually revert to lbs). Any other weight will be in kilos and distance in meters or miles though. I guess I'm system-ambidextrous

[nandad]

It is strange but as an apprentice and as a qualified toolmaker I always worked in metric and I know there are 25.4 mm to the inch, 3.17 mm is 1/8th of an inch and we worked in 1/100th of a millimetre rather than 1/1000th of an inch and I still know these conversions and many more without even thinking about them, but when it comes to distance I'm yards and miles, I know a yard is close to a metre but haven't got a clue on mile and kilometres other than a mile is longer.

[bargee72]

I suppose that I too am ambidexterous with the systems; I prefer metric for work as I posted earlier.

and counting in 10's is much easier than 12's

but whatever my opinion I can quite easily use both with a bit of thought and I definetley dont get annoyed about using either, got better things to worry about like when am i going to get time to find all these caches.... ... never i expect.

[Jungle Goddess]

Having been brought up with Metric, it just makes so much more sense to me!

It's all 1's and 0's, and it ties together so well!

1000cm cubed of water (ie, a box 10cm x 10cm x 10cm) weighs exactly 1kg and is 1 litre in volume.

Even I get that!

I don't need to learn the metric stuff - I got a man that can

[Plucked Duck]

I found this story in the GSP Off Topic forum this evening

The New Book Banning: Concerns about lead in children's books pre-1985.

[JeremyR]

This one: Juror tweets could force retrial: 'Twit' doesn't quite cover it very nearly went straight into this thread without a second thought but it seems he learned all he knows about how to be in contempt of court from a Brit

[JeremyR]

And gun crime is nearly as bad in Uk as in US, but over here they don't bother with licences but just shoot young kids.

No, no, no, sorry. UK gun crime rates aren't even in the same universe as the USA.

Using 2006 figures (the most recent I can quickly Google up for the USA):
- Crimes involving a firearm in the United States: 388,897
- Crimes involving a firearm in the Great Britain: 10,380 (England, Scotland & Wales, excluding air-gun offences)

2006 firearms offences per 100,000 head of population (more balanced than the raw numbers):
- United States: 129.9
- Great Britain: 17.1

Bottom line is that you are just over seven and a half times more likely to be a victim of a firearms-involved crime in the United States.

Sources:
Firearms offence rates in England and Wales (PDF format)
Firearms offence rates in Scotland
Firearms offence rates (inc. offences/100K figures) in the United States
UK population data from the ONS (Excel format)

[JeremyR]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7955984.stm

[Plucked Duck]

... and no matter how many of those free-for-all dollars you pick up, you still won't be able to have your bikini line waxed in New Jersey

Oh... What a shame!

"Just stay out of our pants, will you?"

That's right! - You tell 'em, Linda!

[JeremyR]

Now there's a saying that there's nothing like the British for moaning about the weather and I think that's true but there's another truism - there's nothing like the Americans for warning you about weather, as the current nationwide weather warning map reveals:



I particularly like "Brisk Wind Advisory" and "Heavy Freezing Spray Warning"
You'll also notice that they have at least 6 different ways of warning about flooding and another 8 for wind

[Plucked Duck]

I am truly impressed!

With all those exciting options, it must be almost disappointing to look at the weather chart in the morning and discover that you're in one of those blank white areas where nothing momentous is happening.

[JeremyR]

In a rare departure from this series, I give you "Egads! Only In Japan!" but it's slightly on topic, as you'll see.

I give you...


The Barak Obama action figure. Available in Suited, Jedi, Ninja and James Bond costumes:

Linky

[vw_keychain]

That starts getting really wierd/scary half way down the page!

Am I right tn thinking there was a "Howard from Sheldon" action figure made?

[FFloss]

Dead mayor re-elected by US town

[JeremyR]

Something you can buy in the supermarket:



Even if you subsequently turn it into iced tea, how on earth can the leaves even begin to brew properly if you add them to cold water?

[JeremyR]

Something Pup posted t'other day about Americans and rules reminded me about the one instruction that they just don't seem able to follow:

Not valid unless signed

Seriously, a huge proportion of Americans use credit and debit cards every single day that are unsigned. This is considered normal. When I asked why, I was told that signing your card was a fraud risk because then people would be able to copy your signature. When I pointed out that I can scribble anything I can easily reproduce on an unsigned card and suddenly it looks like it's mine, it didn't change any minds. Bonkers, I tell you...

Being the smart people that you are, you will of course have realised by now that this means American shop assistants don't check signatures. You're right. In fact, normally, the signature is entered into a touch-screen pad and the cashier never sees it. There's virtually nothing to stop a stolen card being used in stores here until it's reported stolen. Then of course, you just have to take it to a small store that does off-line authorisation and it's good for a couple more days as well

Does anyone here work in retail? Ever been given one of these cards by an American tourist? My mother has a couple of tales to tell about people who got terribly rude when she pointed out that the notation "Not valid unless signed" meaned exactly what it said and that she wouldn't be able to take that card and "No sir, if you sign it now in front of me, I still can't take it"...

So yes, Americans love their rules and regs but they have a tendency to ignore that one.