tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13313594.post3082204539471825555..comments2023-11-03T01:24:37.142-07:00Comments on Militant Ginger: AmericaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13313594.post-76585192793348548872009-10-02T12:32:42.326-07:002009-10-02T12:32:42.326-07:00Hi CBB! Thanks for stopping by! I will certainly c...Hi CBB! Thanks for stopping by! I will certainly check out your blog. <br /><br />Joanna! Lovely to see you! Your comment was, as is typical with you, very well-written and thought provoking and I know exactly which experience you're referring to. You're absolutely right. There are some things about America that are seemingly irreconcilable - but I like to think we can change them. America is a place where change seems tangible and achievable, whereas the UK has such a disconnect with politics these days.<br /><br />Thanks for stopping by!<br /><br />Hi Jodi! Whatever you do, DON'T follow my example. From marriage to being legally allowed into America took four years in all. Our visa was lost, sent to the wrong country and mucked about with deliriously. My family and friends all wondered why I made it such a crusade to come to America given all the hassle we went through! But it was worth it in the end.Roland Hulmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08979437320446956987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13313594.post-77872828296550876162009-10-02T12:20:29.262-07:002009-10-02T12:20:29.262-07:00how long did it take you to get your green card? f...how long did it take you to get your green card? from application to approval. it's something Wil and I talk about from time to time. I still don't have my VISA, but we are already thinking about applying for his, because he is somewhat interested in living in the States. Which thrills me no end, believe me.Jodihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13410908657271377080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13313594.post-17195473035431937392009-10-02T05:16:53.878-07:002009-10-02T05:16:53.878-07:00It's very interesting since, at the same time ...It's very interesting since, at the same time as I was reading your post, the national news was reporting on Harriet Harman's instruction to Governor Arnie to close down PunterNet. Doesnt she have better things to do with her time and resources? <br /><br />We really are a nation that likes to build people up and then cut them off at the knees. One day's celebrity is the next day's focus of venom. We cannot celebrate another's good fortune without a sense of schadenfreude, waiting for something bad to reverse their fortunes.<br /><br />We stand up for thing that do not actually affect us but put it in our own backyard and we are vociferously against it.<br /><br />America was built by people who made sacrifices to get there and then survive. They worked hard and, mostly, together to make it work whereas here the culture is about the good of the one over the rest which is why we have such a huge divide between those who have and those who have not with the rich treading all over the poor to feather their own nests even further - look at the bankers still awarding themselves huge bonuses when their banks have been bailed out with public money.<br /><br />A close friend is married to an artist who could not make a living here. He moved to the States and things started to take off. He moved back to the UK but we just dont appreciate art in the same way, so it was back to California and a very comfortable lifestyle.<br /><br />As you say, it was the feeling that anything was possible, rather than being squeezed as a small business by banks which charge fees for everything in a fragile financial environment where most people are only just breaking even. There seems to be no desire to help them to flourish, only to grind them down to make bigger profits for the fat cats.<br /><br />However... there's always a but isnt there. <br /><br />When I found myself in a delicate condition a few years ago, the NHS took care of my embarrassment without me enduring any more emotional strain about the decision itself. I didnt have to travel to another state and run a gauntlet of protesters before undergoing the procedure.<br /><br />AND our laws also permit same sex marriage.<br /><br />So, we're not all bad and today the sun is shining when it's October :)Joanna Cakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15944673677004607976noreply@blogger.com