Americans Being Brainwashed By The UK!!??

I'm not interested in debating or discussing politics on UK-Y. I moderate a large, active political forum elsewhere.

Start the threads if you like, you'll get some response -- but many of us don't come here for political discussion or US news.

Perhaps the users of this site just aren't that interested in discussing news on here.

I find that news discussions on message boards often have a tendency to get heated, and unfortunately ugly.

I think it's just the people posting on here tend not to discuss news on here. 

That is one of the things I love about being here...being away from a country that thinks it is the end all be all of the modern world.

All of these apply for me!! Also, much of US news as far as its relationship with the international community tends to appall me more than anything else these days, more often than not...

I wonder if this has even been reported in the US though:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald-guardian-partner-detained-heathrow

I kind of doubt it & a good example of the far-reaching creepiness of overreaching powers. 

I tend to discuss American topics with friends and family still in America on other social networking sites. One thing that may affect one's interest in keeping up with all things American is whether your stay here is temporary (student, work assignment) or permanent (marriage). I am here permanently, I will become a citizen as soon as I have the financial means to do so, and naturally I am more concerned with issues affecting me here than those affecting Americans in America. I do keep up with all of the happenings in America, however.

I will agree that the perspective from outside the States has been refreshing. When you grow up in America you tend to think America is the be all and end all, but the view from here is not quite that same way.

I live in the US and I still can't be bothered with US news, or much news at all for that matter. It's not why I come to UKY. When I do bother with any news, I tend to go for BBC or some other British source. I do this partly because if there's any video, they don't yell when they're presenting a story. US news people shout too much.

I really, really hope you're kidding!  Please don't assume that, just because we don't obsess over U.S. current events on this particular fourm, we don't care what's happening there.

Personally, I both care what's happening, have strong opinions about it, and am perfectly happy to discuss it with others.  I just don't think of this as the best place for those discussions. I don't mean that in a negative way.  There are plenty of intelligent, engaged people here who are more than up to the discussion.  I just don't think it's the best place for it.  So I do my obsessing on other forums that are specifically political or news-related.

People have different levels of engagement with politics, wherever they are.  An awful lot of people living in the U.S. are unaware of some of the things you mentioned, or have no strong opinion about it.  Others, while they may have an opinion, don't feel the need to discuss it with others.  I'm sure the same is true of U.K. expats (or U.K. residents!) regarding U.K. news & politics.

There aren't many threads on UK news either.

As previously said, people discuss politics and news elsewhere basically. This is more of a support network for people. I do contribute to discussions if they are there.

Also, the important news to many people is what affects their day to day lives, so there will probably be more discussion on the budget, or rise in train fares in UK, etc.

But as to our news....we watch the BBC 6 o'clock bulletin and the local BBC news most days, we watch Question Time and Andrew Marr show, we discuss the issues in these. DW likes to watch O'Reilly on Fox...I tend to do the dishes whilst she watches because I just end up ranting at it!

I do find the initial comment of "are Americans being brainwashed in the UK" rather ironic given that you get far more international and particularly US news in the UK than vice versa.
I actually feel Americans are being brainwashed by the news in America!

I wonder if this has even been reported in the US though:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald-guardian-partner-detained-heathrow

I kind of doubt it & a good example of the far-reaching creepiness of overreaching powers. 

I've seen it on a few news feeds on my Facebook including US ones. Whether it's being reported widely I don't know, probably on Fox as they now think the NSA stuff is a scandal when the same people supported it when it was introduced by Bush.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but... I really don't care about US news.

It was ME that had to start a thread regarding the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin Court case and the verdict!! No-one else did on here!! Does that event alone not worry the Americans living over here??

I don't even know who these people are, so... do i need to worry?

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but... I really don't care about US news.

I don't even know who these people are, so... do i need to worry?

George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in Florida last year. The trial was recently and Mr Zimmerman was acquitted of murder. Caused a bit of a fuss and a debate about racism.

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but... I really don't care about US news.

I often found news stories in the US quite sensationalized so I didn't really watch/read the news much even when I was there.  Now I follow UK news sources a bit more and occasionally I drift over to the US.

Obviously there are stories in the US that are important and affect people I know (like the legalization of gay marriage in my home state on the same day they happened to legalize recreational marijuana- neither of which affects me- or a bridge that collapse along a major interstate near my hometown) but I don't really seek out US news stories and I'm happy with that.  

If I seek out any topical new story, it's about immigration in the UK.... much more relevant to my life these days.

I don't even know who these people are, so... do i need to worry?

Gadzooks! You've been brainwashed! 

While I was browsing this message board as recent as this morning, I have noticed that there are not many threads regarding recent MAJOR news events in the USA, and it got me wondering whether American people, once they come and live over here, they are being brainwashed by the Brits into thinking that the only country that matters is the UK and they are told to forget about their homeland!!

Theres been no threads on Benghazi, the Ohio Kidnap case, the NSA/Eric Snowden leaking/spying scandal, all the catastrophic wildfires and extreme weather in the USA, and any other major news items!!

Are Americans told by the UK Border Agency once they enter this country to forget that the USA even exists??

I've been reading over your old threads...and you are really from what I can read into your post having a hard time letting go of America...The UK is not a duplicate country to the US. No you are not going to find Little Debbie snack cakes or the abundance of bathing supplies...the UK has acceptable alternatives. To be honest after living here for so long I find the US and all the stuff that they supply to consumer a bit OTT.

One of the hardest things I had to do when I moved over was to let go and if you are here for the long haul and you don't resign yourself to the fact that the UK isn't another America..I  think you will find adjusting difficult.

Just my two pence worth.

I do find the initial comment of "are Americans being brainwashed in the UK" rather ironic given that you get far more international and particularly US news in the UK than vice versa.
I actually feel Americans are being brainwashed by the news in America!

Mind you, I have got into political arguments with my American sister in law, and later DW told me about a phone conversation she had with her, when she told her that I get my news from - BBC, CNN, Guardian online, New York Times online, Washington Post online, Huffington Post online - sister in law responded with "he's been brainwashed"!

This from someone whose main news source is Fox News!

So you are probably right about the brainwashing!

So true.  There is more to the world than what happens in the borders of the US!

Ad me to this consensus.
They are really scraping the barrel these days to keep the US news programs going.

Having worked for a police department in the US for 4 years, I kind of learned to hate the media.  I don't like that the media feels they can barge into someone's life and sensationalize the story - often in a human being's darkest hour on the planet.  News stories bother me.

Now as for celebrity gossip - I am your go-to-girl.    I'm still trying to learn the UK celebrities but can frequently be caught perusing People, US magazine, and TMZ.  How's that for class?