I've always been confused by this. I know, from TV shows and movies, what it is and I *think* I know what its supposed to achieve, but I still don't understand WHY it exists. Do any other countries do this? Can any of my American readers explain what it is aimed to achieve, if it does so and how can you tell?
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It was designed to teach children patriotism. In the 50s "under god" was added to differentiate the US from the godless commies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance
Yes, I understand that bit.... but what confuses me is the 'why' of it (as I'm unaware on anywhere else having such a ceremony). Why was it felt there was a need for such a thing? I mean we've had at least one Civil War (definitions vary) and we've had LOTS of immigration over the years and yet.... no Pledge here. Not only wouldn't it happen here for a host of reasons - people would be rightly confused as to what exactly we were pledging our allegiance *to* and the very idea of it would probably offend quite a few people as well - again for a whole host of reasons.
Question: If I was in school (as a non-resident) in the US presumably I'd be exempt from this sort of thing?
Oh, and one more thing: School... High school... College.... Everywhere or does it stop at some point in the educational process?
It goes through high school and is completely optional, thanks to a few court decisions. You would be exempt, like everyone else. Back in the day, probably not.
Why? Because god bless America, that's why! /s
Patriotism here can be a bit crazy. I've received near death threats for suggesting that the US flag was just a piece of fabric and that what it symbolized was what was important.
Hi Mike, I read up on the US Flag Laws which seem.... bizarre. Here the Union Flag is on everything from T-towels to socks & underwear, bed sheets etc... Not sure if you can get Union Flag/Jack toilet paper though - probably not.
If you suggested here that the Union Flag was just a piece of cloth people would just shrug. If you set fire to one, the people around would be more concerned about fire spreading (especially in the Summer) or the possibility of toxic residue in the fabric/plastic. We really don't take that sort of thing all that seriously.
How's the heat with you? We've just had (I think our first) national heatwave warning for the next 3 days. Expectations are for somewhere to hit 110F at some point before Tuesday! And this is BRITAIN!
Yeah, I heard it was supposed to be hot for you guys. One of the Twitch streamers I've recently started watching lives there, and she said it was supposed to be in the high 30s; I've recently been chatting with people from all over the globe, and I might actually learn to convert celsius in my head eventually, lol. It's only been in the low to mid-80s here. We did have some really hot days towards the end of spring, though.
Oh, converting Celsius to Fahrenheit is TOUGH. If you can every do it in your head that's quite a feat!!
A high of 25/78 today. Monday will be the killer (especially without aircon!) when its expected to reach 35/95. Then, as usual, thunderstorms and a 10 degree drop!!
"especially without aircon!" NoooooOoOOOooOooooo!
When I was a child, we did not have central air. I had a window fan and somehow was fine with that. Now, I can't imagine life without AC.
Ok, maybe I won't be converting it in my head.
Start with the temperature in Celsius (e.g., 100 degrees).
Multiply this figure by 1.8 (e.g., 100 * 1.8 = 180).
Add 32 to this figure (e.g., 180 + 32 = 212).
LOL - I know it freaks Americans out when we say about the lack of aircon. Most of the time its really not worth it. we might get a few really hot days (or occasionally a week or two) every few years. Of course with Global Warming that's getting more frequent. So I'm presently here with my upstairs windows open & two fans on. It's definitely *warm* in here but not TOO bad overall.
A friend of mine has mobile aircon in his bedroom because he REALLY suffers from the heat. It'll only be in use for about a week or so this year. My local store has aircon which is nice on a day like this. Unfortunately I don't think they'd like it if I showed up with a chair & a book. My last office building had aircon too which was lovely in the summer (although it did tend to fail when it got REALLY hot because it was hardly ever used - and was considered by senior management as a waste of time once the building had been converted from a library to office space, because books NEED aircon where people don't, right?). One year it failed at exactly the wrong moment and when the temp reached 38C (a little over 100F) and people started passing out, it was decided to send people home if they felt sick!
I can go without AC if I have to, but some of my electronic devices cannot. My PC would probably burst into flame, lol.
Presently I have one fan dedicated to blowing air on my PC. It seems to be coping OK so far!! I'll just go easy on it for the next few days.
I might try that. I used to do that with my original Playstation. I had it raised up on a wire dishrack, so the air could move all around it.
LOL - I did something very similar with my old Sinclair Spectrum which was known for overheating - I had it raised up on cassette boxes.
Perfect!
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