Although there is a strong association with racism, I wouldn't paint everyone who displays the flag as a racist. As has been pointed out by brianwp, there are many citizen groups and individuals who utilize the flag for historical purposes. The problem being that it is, like it or not, a symbol strongly connected to slavery and therefore offensive to many. It is true, however, that the US civil war was about far more than simply slavery and so any discussion in this forum will be incomplete and omit much of the critical information necessary to fully understand the topic. Then again, I think the matter has been fairly well addressed and can be put to bed.

With regards to the KKK, yes it is still active but has been greatly reduced in influence and membership over the years. Personally, I consider them to be a complete embarassment to the human race and give them little consideration.

I think Greenskull has a good point and we should perhaps lighten the mood a bit. :)

I'm a Brit and I also find it an unpleasant word, but redundancy is a nasty business. It has happened to me twice in my life and I am a so called highly qualified professional. It can happen to anyone in the present world. What do they say in America? I've heard ''downsized'' which isn't all that nice either.

It has happened to many millions now all over the world: it will happen to more. Its because the economy is in crisis. It isn't because the people on the receiving end are no good, (all VEF members on the dole reading this post, bear in mind that your predicament is no reflection on you as an individual), it's because there isn't enough paying work around to enable their employers to support them any longer. The economy is in bad shape and will be for a while. Good luck guys, whichever side of the pond you live on.

I was also made redundant many years ago and it was one of the best things that's happened to me! It's all a matter of one's own particular circumstances.I realised that I had been spending lots of time and effort making money I didn't need.I had time now to do all the important things in life.

Please keep this thread going.

I think I was the one who first mentioned American sports. I did this because I was genuinely confused about the different lengths of the seasons in American sports. Thanks to the answers provided by a number of our American contributors I am now wiser. Thank you sirs. :thumbsup:

I'm not a Brit or English, but it annoys me that people get annoyed at the English flag:mad: St. George's day should be celebrated in England with pride. Just like we celebrate St. Patrick.

I, now wrongly, thought that the World Series was sponsored by a bakery called 'The World'. :o

People pretty much just say "fired" or "let-go" or "laid-off" regardless of the "official" reason (ie. your boss hates you or your company got bought out etc).

The terms "axed" and "canned" (also "shitcanned") are used a lot as well.

An employee will say something like "I got fired last week" but a boss will likely use manager-speak and say "...we had to let him go"

It's a matter of local terms and local slang. In Philadelphia, where I was born and spent most of my younger years, a "Coke" was any kind of carbonated beverage regardless of the type. Go to another place in the States it's a "Soda" or most previlent in the mid-west it's a "pop".

I can use another analogy... In Philadelphia, a big sandwich is called a "Hoagie", in New York and Boston it's called a "Sub" or "Submarine", in the south it's a "Po' Boy" or "Poor Boy".

In the Uk, you guys have a "Lorry", a "Lift" and a "Flat", while here in the States it's a "Truck", "Elevator" &"Apartment".

Same thing.

Hope this helps.

I can remember watching an interview with John Cleese talking about Fawlty Towers. He described the man he based the character on. A stuffy pompous old fart who ran a hotel. What made me laugh was the story he recalled about how at dinner the pompous old fart told Terry Gillingham off because of the way he used his knife & fork:) "we don't eat like that in this country! Use your cutlery properly" or words like that. Terry being an American used his fork like a lot of people in Europe now do, like a scoop. (hard to describe) and had his elbows on the table:eek: An American told me that the reason they used their knife & forks like this dates back to the war of independence because the yanks wanted to piss off the brits. I never believed this. Is it true our American friends?:) I'm sure some pompous old farts still tut-tut at such behaviour.

I also love the terms 're-organization' and 're-allocation of resources'. I got hit with those. What that basically means is that the company feels that you are paid too well for what you do and that they can hire someone new at a lower pay scale. The only good news is that once you get to a certain level in the company, they may actually pay you money to resign rather than lay you off. Yeehaw.