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Listed below are comments made by mavortium between Tuesday, 27th May 2008 and Tuesday, 28th October 2008.

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A Land of Hope 06:56am on 28 Oct 2008 Totally agree with #5.

#1/via - While you are tooting America's horn, bear in mind that the US as a nation was toward the rear time-wise of the countries that abolished slavery and so many in the US still can't reconcile themselves to the fact that nation founder and slave-owner Thomas Jefferson had a (now genetically proven) bunch of children with an African American woman called Sally (his dead wife's half-sister). And he didn’t trumpet that from the walls.

I think #1 does make some valid points. However, as a world-travelled permanent resident of the US I must disagree with this "no better and no worse" business. How can you say that? So many people here live in blissful ignorance of what would happen to them if they were to fall seriously ill (even possessing decent health insurance). Many thousands of middle class well-to-do people go bankrupt every year because they can't afford the long term costs of health care like this. Americans criticise Europe but at least if something like this happens to a European citizen, if and when they recover they can contribute to society again economically and socially, rather than selling everything they own and becoming at the very least a non-contributing member of the economy or at worst a burden on the welfare system, all because they couldn't pay their healthcare bills. Healthcare should not be a luxury, it should be a human right.

And then there's education. I happen to live in a city in Texas with one of the highest standards of public education in the nation. I work in third level education and I encounter brilliantly educated public-school graduates every day. However students elsewhere in this state are that the mercy of the incongruities between school districts and they pay the price for the cuts that are necessary due to misspending and mismanagement, and in poorer areas, the lack of funding. Then there are the vastly different (both in content and quality) school curricula. The State Government here makes problematic decisions, e.g. the top 10% from any school in the state must be admitted to this state's universities, often at the expense of very bright kids in great school districts who are below the top 10% in their area but far above most other school standards in the state. Then they make decisions like the so-called "Robin Hood Tax" which tried to take money from the richer school districts in order to fund the poorer ones - that didn't go down well where I live and received the typical response of "Why should we pay for kids elsewhere to have better school facilities?" Why indeed? Mentality like this implies that it's every man, woman and child for themselves in the US of A. Thinking bigger, if education was more standardised and funded equally throughout the state (and nation), then that 10% rule would be fair and this would be a truly inclusive society.

Oh but all of this would be Socialism, and isn't that a dirty word?
Race is still an issue 05:11am on 07 Oct 2008 It really does seem like the tide is turning in Obama's favor (thank goodness). He may very well be the next President. However I have a feeling of foreboding because I can imagine that same old "Only in America" malarkey that was trotted out at the Democratic convention, because he's a black man reaching great heights. Someone needs to tell America that they shouldn't in good conscience pat themselves on the back just for electing a black man. That just proves that for so many years the country has defined people by race rather than for the people that they are, and that finally the US has managed to see past this because a very charismatic man, who just happens to be black, is the best choice to lead them out of a long bad period. To put it in perspective, the US as a nation was among the last western nations to abolish slavery.
A broad church 05:28am on 24 Sep 2008 I'm a Dallas resident (well Plano, but that's really just a suburb). I spent the whole time reading this piece thinking "yes this is lovely but where's the account of your experiences at a more garden variety Dallas church?". Presenting both sides of the coin would make this about 5 times more interesting, by showing the true diversity in this city.

As an Irishman newly green-carded, I know I had many stereotypes about Texas that were false, but many that turned out to be true. I don't think the piece as it stands really informs other Europeans who haven't had the pleasure of visiting this state.

All the same, Jon, I find myself enjoying your blog more than any other here.
Annie, get your gun 8:13pm on 15 Sep 2008 I think your singing my song, Jon. I'm an Irishman living in the heart of gun-friendly territory, Texas. Earlier in this decade I was a researcher at universities in Ireland and England (Bristol). Currently I carry out research at a University here in Texas.

Post Virginia Tech our University instituted an emergency plan (text message to your phone if a shooter was on campus, that sort of thing). I realised that a Uni shooting was never something I thought even remotely possible when I worked in Europe. It doesn't ease my mind that 3 of the people in my research group regularly use guns and 1 carries a concealed weapon permit.

Many here won't talk about gun control because to do so is seen as questioning the constitution and the wisdom of the founding fathers. I argue that making it a little harder to get guns might be a good thing (cf. how easily the Virginia Tech shooter acquired his gun). In response, one of my co-workers, quite seriously, argues that current laws are too restrictive and that fully automatic machine guns should be legal.

If a random neighbour in my apartment complex plays loud music late at night and I decide to complain to him, I find myself thinking twice (someone was shot to death early in 2007 at my previous apartment complex). I can't vote in the coming election because I'm a permanent resident, not a citizen. That will likely change before 2012. If I could vote, I would not be in favour of outlawing firearms but I would vote for tighter restrictions on their possession - criminals possessing guns is one thing, but fearing your neighbour is another.

To quote Eddie Izzard: "The National Rifle Association says that "Guns don't kill people, people do," but I think the gun helps, you know? I think it helps. I just think just standing there going, "Bang!" That's not going to kill too many people, is it?"
Bumper sticker trends 6:23pm on 27 May 2008 I thoroughly enjoy your blog (thank you!) but I have noticed several times in the months that I've been reading it that you really do idealize the US and paint the UK badly. As someone who lived in the UK for 4 years earlier in the decade, and someone who has lived in the US now for nearly that same amount of time (I'm not a citizen of either but legal in both), I find myself wondering if Justin lives in the same US as I do?

The yob character you're describing regarding the kite flying is alive and well and living in the US, I assure you, they just haven't coined that term over here yet. You probably haven't run into them because they're too busy working 6 days a week on wages that would make Gordon Brown weep, all the while working under labor laws that are severely employer-biased and having no hope for the future because his/her family couldn't spring for the insane cost of a college education in the US.

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