[09x03] February 11th, 2007

[thedguy]

LOL i really should have shut up. I just happen to be someone who thinks that a salesman that shows off his guns is really special, or that a woman who get's out of a station saying " are you a bunch of homo's that want to be beat up" is also something special. I know not all of american's are like that, there really wouldn't be any america if they were. About the movies i posted, it's just fun stuff, take it as a joke,and if some of your congressman know so little about canada it' s a fact,deal with it.Just say ehat the guy said "if you think that's important" As for Frech Canadians beign intolerant and such, here we try to integrate our immigrant into something we call "multiculturalism",make them part of our society to create diversity,unlike what i saw in the TG film where they just get shoved to the far end of town,where a black state that is poor is simply left in ruin, it simply shouldn't happen, it's your country, deal with it,do something,talk with your vote or something, but don't blow up when people tell you about the situation.

That salesmen was rather stupid, though not so much in showing off his gun, but more in offering to sell it to him (I thought I heard him say "wanna buy it?"). In the states it's perfectly legal to own a gun, and to carry them in public, he was merely trying to prove his point. He said "everyone here has guns."

As far as your complaint about immigrants, we have a huge issue with Immigration right now, and there are some heated debates on how to solve it. And don't take that into meaning anything else. I'm just saying our system is seriously screwed up at the moment.

Rural Alabama is, well, rural Alabama. AL is noted for its xenophobia outside of urban centers. In that, it's kind of like Scotland and how everyone is clannish there. So, when do you guys in the UK plan on cleaning up the problem of Scotland?

As for New Orleans, the *state* of Louisiana is responsible for actually doing most of the rebuilding. The feds have provided boatloads of money for the rebuilding process - but the problem for LA is that it comes with lots of "let's make sure you're spending the money honestly" strings. See, LA is THE most corrupt state in the union, and they spent *30-plus-years* and billions of Federal dollars intended for flood control and levees on things like "Levee Board Fact Finding Missions" to such places as Las Vegas and Atlantic City (our gambling capitals) and buying such flood-control related items as corporate jets and actual casinos. Now that there's Federal oversight, nobody wants to get caught pulling their old tricks, so nobody in LA is doing anything.

70% of the money Congress set aside for rebuilding and aid remains unspent because the government of Louisiana is either dithering or not doing anything with it.

Quoted because you make a hell of a point and it needs to be pointed out.

 

[mikev88]

Out of subject question for Neek,how's the reliability with the STI? Got my IS300 totalled last month by someone who was looking at their radio,that's why i agreed with the guy who said we drive like morons,anyhow i'm looking into an STI or an S4 for replacement,how is it?a quick answer would be nice.

 

[mikev88]

hey Loomy, remember "it's hotter in hell" lol

 

[Neek]

I would still go there on holliday, tho (and I will some day), but since I can't stand extremist christians I'll stick to the northern and western parts of the country.

Don't let a bit of television scare you. Here's one well-educated, Petter Solberg-loving Jew in Florida that would welcome you to the area. Just stick to the portion of Florida south of that big lake in the middle (Lake Okechobee), and you'll be just fine. Not much to see north of there anyway, with the exception of the tourist stuff around Orlando, Disney World, etc.

 

[Neek]

Out of subject question for Neek,how's the reliability with the STI? Got my IS300 totalled last month by someone who was looking at their radio,that's why i agreed with the guy who said we drive like morons,anyhow i'm looking into an STI or an S4 for replacement,how is it?a quick answer would be nice.

I love the car. It's my 3rd Subaru and one thing that nobody has been able to argue about Subarus is their general reliability. I drive the car daily, almost 50k miles in 2.5 years, including many laps around various tracks. It isn't stock either with basic mods to suspension, brakes and engine (I'm at about 305 WHP now) and haven't had a single mechanical problem. I've had an earlier Impreza and Forester as well, all were great.

If you want more info, you should check out the North American Subaru Impreza Owner's Club (NASIOC) at www.nasioc.com.

 

[thedguy]

I would still go there on holliday, tho (and I will some day), but since I can't stand extremist christians I'll stick to the northern and western parts of the country.

Honestly, the small towns are extremely friendly when you don't go there being hostile. The big cities have their dangerous parts, but you get out of them, see the more beautiful parts of the country, and you'll probably find American's are very likable people.

Contrary to popular belief, we are not all gun toting, war like, racists, xenophobes. To prove my point, I've never held a real gun in my life, I'm very peaceful, my best friends are from mexico and vietnam, and your welcome to come visit for some shitty beer anytime you want :lol:

I love the car. It's my 3rd Subaru and one thing that nobody has been able to argue about Subarus is their general reliability. I drive the car daily, almost 50k miles in 2.5 years, including many laps around various tracks. It isn't stock either with basic mods to suspension, brakes and engine (I'm at about 305 WHP now) and haven't had a single mechanical problem. I've had an earlier Impreza and Forester as well, all were great.

If you want more info, you should check out the North American Subaru Impreza Owner's Club (NASIOC) at www.nasioc.com.

Only complaints I've ever heard really is weak transmissions.

 

[fishmonger]

Death and taxes

Death and taxes

Just to clear up some of the confusion about the car donation and the lawyer. She probably thought they were trying to cheat on their taxes.

When you donate to charity in the US you can deduct the money, or the value of a donated item, from your income tax. So if you would ordinarily pay $1000 in income tax, and you donated $100 to charity, you would then only have to pay $900 in tax. So the reason they got in trouble with the charity's lawyer is that overvaluing an item you're donating to charity is a common type of tax fraud. It can end up costing charities quite a bit of money, and if they get audited by the IRS they could loose their charitable status for letting it happen.

This is also part of the reason the guys had trouble buying cars for less $1000 from a dealership. It?s usually better for a dealer to donate the cheaper trade-ins for the tax write-off, rather than try to sell them.

 

[mikev88]

thanks i'll surely check it out,the S4 is my love but beign used to Lexus reliability, i'm not sure i'm ready for an Audi.

 

[Neek]

Only complaints I've ever heard really is weak transmissions.

There were some issues with earlier WRX trannies, never the STi 6-speed. I think most of the early WRX tranny issues were yahoos used to 6k rpm clutch drops from other cars that had no idea that such activity might not be the best thing for an AWD car that doesn't really get any wheelspin. So when Bob Idiot sells his Mustang GT and gets the hot new 2002 WRX because all the magazines say it's so great and he drives it the same way as his high HP RWD drag monster, he blames the "glass tranny" because it doesn't stand up to it.

 

[baller92287]

Brilliant episode. And I was truly shocked to see the state of the country and the people there. I mean, I knew it was bad, but OMG! And yes, I know it's not as bad as that everywhere - clearly they were mostly in parts of the country where people presumably still live in caves and murder eachother with wooden sticks - but.. wow... Have they still not fixed New Orleans?

I would still go there on holliday, tho (and I will some day), but since I can't stand extremist christians I'll stick to the northern and western parts of the country.

I loved this episode as well, it seems funny to me though how there is such a paradigm shift in the way that Europeans view the situation and how we in America do. As has been stated (pun intended, wait for it) it is the states responsibility to manage the oversight of rebuilding. However somehow it's all America's and more importantly Bush's fault according to many that damn they still haven't cleaned the place up??!! In our view, from the outside of the tragedy, we threw bucket loads of money at the problem, and nothing happened still. Further proof that more money isn't always the answer. Ray Nagin the mayor of New Orleans was consequently re-elected even though he shares at least 60% of the fault for how things are going down there. And why? Because the main stream media here, and indeed the BBC as well like to blame everything on Bush, because they think they know how our federal government ought to work. All I know is that for now its working out pretty well as our economy has been growing ever since Bush has been in office (he pulled it out of a recession). Our unemployment rate is almost lower than it should be (past "full employment"), and more Americans own their own homes than ever in our history. Yes the state of Louisiana is pathetic, but if you must let the blame fall, let it fall where it belongs.

 

[thedguy]

I've heard the STi tranny is quite strong. As you said the WRX ones I were told were weak(ish), but the real bad ones were the old SVX's, they just couldnt' take the torque of the H6's.

I've been looking at replacing my daily beater and a cheap awd subaru would make for a nice addition the garage.

 

[fishmonger]

Just a quick observation. None of the rednecks said that they were not allowed to say bad things or write bad things on their cars. Just don't think you can walk up to someone, spit on them, call them a retard, and not expect a reaction.

Anther quick observation. From what I saw it looked like the people at the gas station weren't mad at what was written, just that it had been written. They knew what TG was up to, and didn't like being made the butt of a joke, they get enough of that from those ?damnyankees?. Though I did think it was hilarious when the guys wussed out, and wiped the writing off the cars.

That and I'm sure some of the people honking at Hammond on the highway just thought he was cute :lol:

 

[thedguy]

As has been stated (pun intended, wait for it) it is the states responsibility to manage the oversight of rebuilding.

Because the main stream media here, and indeed the BBC as well like to blame everything on Bush, because they think they how our federal government ought to work.

One thing many of us (in and out of the US) have forgotten, or never knew in the first place is...

The Federal government of the US was basically the same Idea the EU is now. The Federal government was given minimal power as each state was supposed to be essentially it's own country. Louisiana seems to be the equivalent of parts of eastern europe it seems...

Anther quick observation. From what I saw it looked like the people at the gas station weren't mad at what was written, just that it had been written. They knew what TG was up to, and didn't like being made the butt of a joke, they get enough of that from those ?damnyankees?. Though I did think it was hilarious when the guys wussed out, and wiped the writing off the cars.

That and I'm sure some of the people honking at Hammond on the highway just thought he was cute :lol:

I think it was a case of "well you stated your opinion, here's mine" type of thing. Obviously their opinion was a little more violent than theirs. They also probably figured with what was written on the cars, and how it was displayed, they were obviously looking for a fight, or at least some kind of argument.

 

[Verve]

There was a great amount of American bashing (like always) but I enjoyed the show. I just try not to take the jokes seriously. I don't think the TG crew knew what they were getting into with those slogans on the cars.

As many have said before the majority of Americans are not like those found in Alabama. The people seemed rather friendly everywhere else.

The best part for me was seeing Richard in the pickup with aviators and a cowboy hat on and a big stupid grin on his face I love how each presenter chose a car that fitted his own personality.

 

[Gameflyer]

Brilliant episode, but for god's sake, please don't generalize ALL of America from what you saw.

 

[flyinhawaiian]

Have they still not fixed New Orleans?

I would still go there on holliday, tho (and I will some day), but since I can't stand extremist christians I'll stick to the northern and western parts of the country.

Your shock is reflective of many American's too. Unfortunately, the media here is too envolved with such shit like Anna Nicole Smith dying or weather Hillary is a dyke or not... They just don't show or make a big deal about the things that matter like how New Orleans is still in ruins or that shitshow called Iraq.

Please do visit sometime, I'm from Maryland, which is arguably the most beautiful state in the Mid-Atlantic region and have some of the best crabs in the world!

In reference to the kissin cousins of the south, everyone here should realize that its actually the Brits' fault for that situation in the first place. (ducks flame and bricks) The province of Georga was created as a penal colony in the 1700s and England sent about 1/4 of all the immigrants to the "New World" to that region as indentured servants and prisoners. When the revolution happened and we kicked some British butt, they were released and spread out along the south, and eventually found Alabama where they started inbreeding and having kids with 13 toes who then attack poor British television presenter. Talk about full circle...

Its history folks, I'm tellin ya!

-Jeff

 

[empowah]

What I find particularly amusing is the quantity of people going "I can't wait to see how the Yanks will react!"

Yet apart from reactions to what FG members have said (not reactions to the actual episode), response from US viewers has generally been positive. And I think there's a very good reason for that: most Americans don't recognize TG's coverage of the South as representative of their nation.

I don't mind the stereotypes and the bashing because I know they were written to entertain. I also know that the idiocy of the alleged rock-throwing individuals reflect a small population of bigots that exist everywhere in the world. It doesn't reflect me or the people I know.

Some points Clarkson made were legit. Yes, much of America can only afford to have a cheap, disposable, lowbrow, mass-produced culture of Comfort Inns and Red Lobsters. Yes, most Americans, particuarly those in the South, are obese. And yes, there is homophobia and extreme religiosity in the South. These points are valid.

But what really disappoints me are the people here taking this seriously, as if the episode were an informative one-hour documentary on the entire United States of Americaland.

I'm saddened that those who've never lived in the US judge the country (e.g. "I truly think America is a great country; just look at the Grand Canyon. But unfortunately the large majority of Americans ruin it all.") via television, and if they do visit, make a huge Clarksonian effort to reaffirm their "suspicions", rather than to try finding something new and surprising. It's akin to concluding that all sixteen-to-twentysomethings are bad-mannered, hostile, juvenile delinquents through YouTube comments alone.

There are always two sides to a story, but sometimes we forget that.

 

[xen]

The way they only showed the worst side of America was a bit annoying, but all in all it was a hilarious episode. (I'm pretty much used to Top Gear ragging on basically all things American. It doesn't even bother me). Easily one of the best episodes ever of Top Gear.

And I agree about the take on New Orleans. It's a travesty that things are still so bad down there even after a whole year.

 

[Verve]

I loved this episode as well, it seems funny to me though how there is such a paradigm shift in the way that Europeans view the situation and how we in America do. As has been stated (pun intended, wait for it) it is the states responsibility to manage the oversight of rebuilding. However somehow it's all America's and more importantly Bush's fault according to many that damn they still haven't cleaned the place up??!! In our view, from the outside of the tragedy, we threw bucket loads of money at the problem, and nothing happened still. Further proof that more money isn't always the answer. Ray Nagin the mayor of New Orleans was consequently re-elected even though he shares at least 60% of the fault for how things are going down there. And why? Because the main stream media here, and indeed the BBC as well like to blame everything on Bush, because they think they know how our federal government ought to work. All I know is that for now its working out pretty well as our economy has been growing ever since Bush has been in office (he pulled it out of a recession). Our unemployment rate is almost lower than it should be (past "full employment"), and more Americans own their own homes than ever in our history. Yes the state of Louisiana is pathetic, but if you must let the blame fall, let it fall where it belongs.

Also if you notice other states hit by the hurricane don't seem to have as much trouble as Louisiana.

 

[torqueless]

i've watched the episode again. and i'm pretty amazed that they didnt get hurt worse when messing with the rednecks.

i'll google that gas station and try to find out where it is. if they were in south alabama they are only about 2 hours south where i live.

maybe i'll go interview the people that work there and see if they remember anything. haha