[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by lostalex

Kizzy, do you actually think i'm that dumb? should i post a video of how different all the US states are? that doesn't mean that the USA is not a country though.

Don't have a go at me...I don't get it either and I live here! It may be England or Britain...Who knows? haha

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by kizzy

Don't have a go at me...I don't get it either and I live here! It may be England or Britain...Who knows? haha

i'm not having a go! lol sorry, i just thought it was widely known that the UK is a single country.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by lostalex

So you are telling me, a man can walk into a british office and violently force a woman to sign a marriage application? and there would be no criminal charges laid against that man?

i don't believe it.

Me neither

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

just because you use the word "country" doesn't mean anything. they are not sovereign. they do not have their own independent governments, they do not have their own independent militaries. They are part of 1 state/country. They have a central federal government in London.

Many "sovereign states" may have a central federal government - but not the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain, which are devolved states, where the central government can revoke the independence of the subunits (Scottish Parliament, Welsh National Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly in the case of the UK) without changing the constitution.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

I don't think the other members of the commonwealth would like your implication that they are part of the Uk as a country lol, i'm pretty sure they consider themselves INDEPENDENT countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_...lth_of_Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 54 independent sovereign states (one of whose membership is currently suspended). Most are former British colonies, or dependencies of these colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as in a political union. Rather, the relationship is one of an international organisation through which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status, and co-operate within a framework of common values and goals, as outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace, and are carried out through multilateral projects and meetings, as well as the quadrennial Commonwealth Games. The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, known for this purpose as Head of the Commonwealth. This position, however, does not imbue her with any political or executive power over any Commonwealth member states; the position is purely symbolic, and it is the Commonwealth Secretary-General who is the chief executive of the organisation.

The Commonwealth was first officially formed in 1931 when the Statute of Westminster gave legal recognition to the independence of dominions. Known as the "British Commonwealth", the first members were the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and Dominion of Newfoundland, although Australia and New Zealand did not adopt the statute until 1942 and 1947 respectively. In 1949, the London Declaration was signed and marked the birth of the modern Commonwealth and the renaming to its present name. The most recent member is Rwanda, which joined on 29 November 2009.

Presently, of the states that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, three are in Europe, twelve in North America, one in South America, nineteen in Africa, eight in Asia, and eleven in Oceania (including one suspended member, Fiji). There are six former members, four of which no longer exist as independent entities (but form part of current member states). The members have a combined population of 2.2 billion people, almost a third of the world population, of which 1.21 billion live in India and 95% live in Asia and Africa combined.

Currently sixteen of the member states are Commonwealth realms with the Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II also as their head of state, five others are monarchies with their own separate monarchs (Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, Swaziland, Tonga) and the rest are republics.

[MTVN]

I don't know if this has been posted but this is from last December: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...age-illegal-uk

For me, there is one overriding myth about forced marriage: that it is illegal. In fact, to coerce, threaten or blackmail someone into matrimony is not in itself a criminal offence. This week, the home secretary, Theresa May, launched a consultation into making forced marriage a crime in its own right. I am delighted – after all, it is something I have been campaigning for and speaking out about over many years.

At the moment, legislation surrounding forced marriage is civil, not criminal. The Forced Marriage Act 2007 finally allowed courts to issue forced marriage protection orders when a victim, friend or local authority raises the alarm. A breach of such an order can result in up to two years imprisonment.

I any case there is a difference between making forced marriage illegal in theory and actually actively enforcing that law and making sure it doesn't happen

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

i'm not having a go! lol sorry, i just thought it was widely known that the UK is a single country.

It might be widely known in the USA, because few US citizens know much about the world outside their state boundaries and even fewer know much about Europe and beyond :

Of the 308 million-plus citizens in the United States, 30% have passports.

That's just too low for such an affluent country, said Bruce Bommarito, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the U.S. Travel Association.

"Americans are comfortable in their own environment," Bommarito said.

There were 61.5 million trips outside the United States in 2009, down 3% from 2008, according to the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. About 50% of those trips were to either Mexico or Canada, destinations that didn't require a passport until 2007.

So, roughly only 15% have passports required for travel beyond North America and most of those will presumably go to the military .....

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

It might be widely known in the USA, because few US citizens know much about the world outside their state boundaries and even fewer know much about Europe and beyond :



So, roughly only 15% have passports required for travel beyond North America and most of those will presumably go to the military .....

because americans don't need passports to travel our entire continent. Europeans might have more passports, but i doubt you'd find many more europeans traveling outside of europe.

You europeans consider it "traveling abroad" when you go to france. Traveling from the UK to france or spain for an american would be like going from new york to new jersey or connecticut.

you really don't understand that actually Americans travel just as much between just as diverse states. It would take an entire lifetime to explore just one region of the US, let alone the entire country.

I think it's so funny and arrogant that Europeans think Americans need to leave the country in order to "see the world" meanwhile how much of the world to they see? i wonder how many europeans go to the Congo compared to how many Americans? i think you'd find it's about the same.

Europeans think because they go to other European countries it makes them "worldly" but it makes them no more worldly than Americans that travel to different American states in the US.

The average Brit knows no more about the Ukraine than the average American. The average German knows no more about El Salvador than the average American.

i challenge any honest person here who considers themselves worldly to say the name of the leader of Guatemala or Kenya or even Japan without Google. All honest people will admit they don't know. but they still consider themselves more worldly than Americans lol.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by lostalex

because americans don't need passports to travel our entire continent. Europeans might have more passports, but i doubt you'd find many more europeans traveling outside of europe.

You europeans consider it "traveling abroad" when you go to france. Traveling from the UK to france or spain for an american would be like going from new york to new jersey or connecticut.

you really don't understand that actually Americans travel just as much between just as diverse states. It would take an entire lifetime to explore just one region of the US, let alone the entire country.

I think it's so funny and arrogant that Europeans think Americans need to leave the country in order to "see the world" meanwhile how much of the world to they see? i wonder how many europeans go to the Congo compared to how many Americans? i think you'd find it's about the same.

No need to generalise, I see your point, America is so big and diverse there's not that much need to go abroad for different cultures/experiences

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

because americans don't need passports to travel our entire continent. Europeans might have more passports, but i doubt you'd find many more europeans traveling outside of europe..
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i challenge any honest person here who considers themselves worldly to say the name of the leader of Guatemala or Kenya or even Japan without Google. All honest people will admit they don't know. but they still consider themselves more worldly than Americans lol.

That, of course, is the typical American response .....

I don't think any European country (sovereign state or otherwise) would like to be compared to American states .....

[Omah]

Originally Posted by MTVN

No need to generalise, I see your point, America is so big and diverse there's not that much need to go abroad for different cultures/experiences

And everybody takes dollars and speaks American (more or less) .....

[MTVN]

True but I don't go on holiday for the different currency

[Kizzy]

Time to split the differing issues in this thread?....

[Redway]

Back on topic, I think it's great that Sweden's doing this and hopes the UK follows suit. Or has that already been said?

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

And everybody takes dollars and speaks American (more or less) .....

and everyone takes euros in europe, what's yur point?

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

and everyone takes euros in europe?

In the EU, Euro is used in 15 countries, so 14 still have their own currencies. Those are:

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden and the UK.

AFAIK, even in the UK, some Scottish banks still issue their own banknotes, too .....

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

In the EU, Euro is used in 15 countries, so 14 still have their own currencies. Those are:

Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden and the UK.

AFAIK, even in the UK, some Scottish banks still issue their own banknotes, too .....

so on that list, basically only the UK is a major tourist country. France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, all of the places most people travel to in Europe all take the same currency... so it nullifies your argument that America is monocultural just because it has the same currency in multiple states.

[Conor]

Back from beautiful Stockholm by AnyMotion, on Flickr

Scandinavia= Heaven on earth

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

so on that list, basically only the UK is a major tourist country. France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, all of the places most people travel to in Europe all take the same currency... so it nullifies your argument that America is monocultural just because it has the same currency in multiple states.

No, it doesn't - some former, rather large, "Eastern Bloc" countries which are now "European" are tourist destinations, too .....

Then, we "Europeans" do travel much further afield nowadays - people I know travel to the Far East and Australasia on a regular basis (and not just on business) .....

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

No, it doesn't - some former, rather large, "Eastern Bloc" countries which are now "European" are tourist destinations, too .....

Then, we "Europeans" do travel much further afield nowadays - people I know travel to the Far East and Australasia on a regular basis (and not just on business) .....

and people i know travel to the far east and Australia too, what's your point again??

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

and people i know travel to the far east and Australia too, what's your point again??

That there is more to the world than meets the American eye .....

[Niamh.]

Omah stop baiting Lostalex

[lostalex]

yea! stop baiting me!

wait, baiting me? wtf am i fish or something?

I can take care of myself around here Niamh.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by lostalex

yea! stop baiting me!

wait, baiting me? wtf am i fish or something?

I can take care of myself around here Niamh.

I don't doubt that Alex but the thread has gone way off topic with this silly argument

[Omah]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Omah stop baiting Lostalex

I didn't think I was "baiting", but I'm quite happy to terminate the current dialogue, which, of course, is off-topic any way .....