OK, there's been a lot of Arguments in the past on whether this country has done any good or if it's a big waste of space with it's attitudes, so I'd like to help- redress the balance. Let's hear the good things they've done :D

* Zippo's
* Jack Daniels
* Harley Davidson's
* Clint Eastwood
* Southern Comfort
* RPG's
* The Yanks on SP ;)

There's the start, after a while we'll see what peoples opinions are the bad things too, and then compare. How's that for a plan to settle it once and for all?

I know few good movies from America and last thime i checked Oprah is also popular here :)

Elvis, Beach Boys and some more...

Gee, when I saw the title of this topic, I thought it was going to be a trick question!

*my girlfriend ;)

Vermillion: I agree with you on all the other, but I want Jack Daniels striken from the list. That is the worst whisky I have ever tasted, hope I never taste it again.... ( Should have been a smiley here, but I could not find one that was puking)

Lot's of good music has come from USA though

Well i asked Tal a while back for a puke smiley, but he didnt want people to puke all over his "clean" boards :p

StarWars, Clint Eastwood, System of a Down (ok, of origin they´re Armenian, but if they dindt life in the States, they wouldnt have really good stuff to sing about :p )

Don't forget Jerry Springer!

While Jameson's and Bushmill's it is not, Jack Daniels can make a fine whisky. Cool thing about Jack Daniels is that you can buy your own barrell and all of the whisky produced from it is yours. Awesome. You go there and with the help of their master brewer who has set aside the best barrells make your pick -- if you have 10k.

I'd thow Makers Mark in the mix and I believe Crown Royal is American but I'm not sure about this.

I'm glad Harley was there -- nothing like the feel of a Harley under you or the rumble of its engine.

How about Basketball and baseball?

And for the life of me I can't understand it but apparently there are plenty of Germans pretty happy about David Hasselhoff...., go figure.

Michael Jordan
Detroit Redwings
Greenbay Packers
NY Yankees
:D

Jim Davis' Garfield!!!

Nah, no striking things from the list, it has to be a collection of everyones opinions of good things from the USA.

Amazon, definitely.

Nukes

Lots of good computer games (even though I'm totally opposed to microsoft and support apple...)

Calvin and Hobbs. Nuff said.

That to me is enough to make it a great country! :)

The Simpsons ain't too bad either...... !

Edit - I probably shouldn't try to type after a Friday night out...........

[ December 07, 2002, 02:16: Message edited by: Viking ]

Judith Martin
P.J. O'Rourke
Dave Barry
Julian May
Maya Angelou
WILLIAMS SONOMA!!!

And of course... My handsome husband

Dave Barry! My favourite Miami humourist. I'm hoping he'll run for president again this year...
Hmm, what else...
I have to agree on the Calvin and Hobbes.
Get Fuzzy as well.
well, my favourite author is british...my favourite tv show is british...Ohhh! How about Disney movies that are so stupid they're funny. Like the Emporer's New Groove and Ice Age. And Monster's Inc. Heh.

AMaster, if you think nukes are an American invention, you better think again.

Seawolf sub

[ December 07, 2002, 17:27: Message edited by: vonGriffin ]

I'm sure the world would be a much worse place without the good 'ol yanks around. For starters, most of Continetal Europe would still be under Nazi oppression if it wasn't for the USA, plus I doubt we'd be here playing our games and surfing the web if it wasn't for them either. And even though it'll no longer be a super power by 2020 (China will be wealthier by then), i'm sure it'll always shine.

[ December 07, 2002, 20:16: Message edited by: Z-Layrex ]

Most of the best combat aircraft ever!
Some of the best commercial aircraft ever.
Potato Vodka!!!!! :p :p :p
The best space program ever.
Plus all the funny TV shows, like the Simpsons, Hing of the Hill, M*A*S*H*, and Scrubs. :rolling:

Garfield!
Stephen King (or well his novels at least :p )
David Eddings (same there)
and lots of weird acting for us Europeans to poke fun at!

The death and destruction of the lives of many supposed Communists across the world.

Well, without the US, there would not be nearly as many long and painful debates posted in this forum.

oh, and ZZ TOP!!

Gotta love those rockin Rabbis. ;) :lol:

Kitrax, it's specifics I'm after, and I'll ignore that Communist one. :toofar: As for the debates, lets face it, most of them we could have done without ;)
Coming soon, the other side of the coin, should be fun.

guns to kids...

I never said Communists were good people, did I?

But Communists are good people. Just look at the Chinese.

*Leatherman tool
*Many George Lucas movies

Oreos.

Yoda.

Sammy LJ.

Monkey Island.

George Bush......naaaah :p

Comics
Some movies
South Park
Some bands

* Zork, Planetfall
* The Atari 2600
* Bill Murray

* The Microchip
* The Lightbulb
* The Telephone

Marlboro's

i agree... did you know that its not illegal for kids under 18 to smoke but to buy the ciggarettes... no more police stopping me... hehe... im only 15...

America has given you lots of stuff. Music , Games , Videos , and lots of other important things

Las Vegas :cool:

purerflames it's specifics I'm asking for, I'm going to list them and compare them to the bad (that thread next week) and then we shall have the ultimate in evidence of how good the USA is ;) .

And I am ashamed I forgot to mention my fav smokes marlboro at the start :toofar: but then I've been on rolol up's since becoming skint :(

Kitrax, it's specifics I'm after, and I'll ignore that Communist one. Vermillion: I think you need to get your nicks in order. IIRC, C'Jacob was the one that mentioned Communist. :rolleyes:

And for the specifics, here's a few: the F16, the F22, and the SR71...as for the commercial aircraft, I have one word for you: Boeing. :rolling:

The guarantee of individual liberties, and that whole "innocent until proven guilty" thing come to mind.

Technology: Television, telephone, computers, the Internet, the assembly line

As for elements of pop culture: Michael Jordan, the Les Paul guitar, Muppets, Ice Cream, Levis

Elvis? :D

Sly and the Family Stone

I wasn't implying that you did mention communists :rolleyes: just saying i was going to ignore it. Oh and please look up who invented what before you actually claim americans did rallymama, trust me you may be surprised. Alexander Graham Bell was Scottish after all :D .
Oh and thats just the first one, go look. And for anyone else interested, go find everything that the Scottish have invented, you will be amazed:D. Don't post them here though if you're going to, this is America's hour ;) .

Just a minute, two people think the telephone was invented by Americans so far.... :toofar: :nono: Please be sure it's american before you post :book:

[ December 10, 2002, 00:08: Message edited by: Vermillion ]

Yeah Jack!
Are we funckin' now?!!!
Gotta love Sly!

Vermillion, everyone claims Bell as one of their own! He moved around so much I think Tuvalu is the only country in the world that can't lay claim to inventing the telephone.

I forgot to mention earlier... Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women! How could I have forgotten them? Oh, and while we're talking about brilliant artists from Chicago, let's add Charlie Trotter to the list too. Oh, and on the subject of American cuisine- All those west-coast fusion chefs that turned the "nouvelle" joke into a serious cuisine, and more especially southern food like barbecue, fried green tomatoes, southern-fried chicken. Shrimp etouffe, gumbo, jambalaya from Louisiana. Old Bay seasoning from the north-east.

[ December 10, 2002, 15:19: Message edited by: Sprite ]

come on guys this whole american love is killing me.

come on guys this whole american love is killing me. oh. Alright then. Here goes...

AMERICA SUCKS!
breathing again? Good.
America RULES!
Oh, you stopped breathing again? I could have loads of fun with this... :D

Sprite, trust me, go look him up. In fact, I have a couple of new thread ideas :)

Starbucks and Crispy Creme donuts! :roll:

Vermillion, as a proud descendent of clan MacLaren, and MacFarlane by marriage, I'm not arguing with you. ;) I'm just saying that it might be a bigger battle than you want to take on!

robert t ironside :)

2Pac

George Carlin
Denis Leary
Ben & Jerry's

and I believe Crown Royal is American but I'm not sure about this.Nope, sorry, that's ours.

How about Basketball and baseball?Like Crown Royal, basketball is a Canadian thing. It was first played in a YMCA in Springfield, Massachussetts but was invented by James Naismith, who was Canadian.

[ December 11, 2002, 03:16: Message edited by: JohnnyRTFM ]

Native americans and their simplistic life which should be guiding us all.

*now where is my tomahawk* :1eye:

I got to remove the internet from the American thing too, apparently it was a student in England somewhere that made the break through with computers communicating over telephones lines, I got told last night and more info should be following. I do know that it was developed after that for use in the pentagon and the US military, well I should see soon, hopefully those links should be in my inbox soon :)

I guess nobody mentioned Chuck Norris yet? DELTA FORCE!

Bob Dylan. Stevie Wonder. The Simpsons.

Walt Whitman.

Potatoes. (came from North America, at least) Wheat belt.

Jazz. Bluegrass.

Shaker design, Coke, electric light, a couple of good movies, John Locke, David Thoreau, Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammet and Dorothy Parker (some more readable authors) ... a lot of stuff to wonder about :shake:

From Time's list of 100 most important people of the century:

Leaders and Revolutionaries:

Margaret Sanger (made birth control legal)
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Elanor Roosevelt (a trend here? : ))
Ronald Regan (let the debate begin)
Martin Luther King

Artists:

Martha Graham (dance artist, school founder)
T.S. Eliot
Louis Armstrong
Marlon Brando
Rodgers and Hammerstein (Oklahoma!)
Frank Sinatra
Lucille Ball(I Love Lucy, first female studio head
Bob Dylan
Aretha Franklin
Jim Henson
Steven Spielberg
Bart Simpson (what?)
Oprah Winfrey (insert criticism)

Builders and Titans:

Henry Ford (no explanation needed)
Charles Merrill (Merrill, Lynch)
Willis Carrier (air conditioning)
William Levitt (afordable housing)
Leo Burnett (pioneer of t.v. advertising)
Ray Kroc (I can smell the outrage, McDonald's)
Pete Rozelle (NFL football)
Sam Walton (Wal-Mart)
A.P. Giannini (banker, helped Italy's workers)
Stephen Bechtel (Hoover Dam, nuc power etc)
Walt Disney
Juan Trippe (Pan-Am founder)
Walter Reuther (key in union movement)
Thomas Watson Jr. (built IBM)
Estee Lauder (beauty as business)
Bill Gates

Scientists and Thinkers

The Wright Brothers (flight)
Robert Goddard (rocket scientist)
Jonas Salk (polio vaccine)
Edwin Hubble(proves univers is expanding etc)
Philo Farnsworth (television)
James Watson ("secret to life" genetics)

Heroes and Icons

Helen Keller (altered perception of disabled)
Charles Lindbergh (flew across Atlantic)
Bill Wilson (started 12 step program)
The American G.I. (insert snide comment)
Jackie Robinson (broke the color barrier)
Billy Graham (hmmm)
Rosa Parks (civil rights)
Marilyn Monroe (sex symbol)
The Kennedys
Muhammad Ali
Bruce Lee (yep, born in California)
Harvey Milk (first openly gay in political office)

http://www.time.com/time/time100/index.html

From LSU:

Calculating Maqchines and Computers:
Platform scales 1830 Thaddeus Fairbanks
Cash register 1879 James Ritty
Comptometer 1885 Dorr E. Felt
Adding machine 1888 W. Burroughs
Mechanical computer 1928 Vannevar Bush
Automatic digital computer 1944 Howard Aiken
Electronic digital computer 1946 J.P. Eckert
J.W. Mauchly
Electronic pocket calculator 1972 J.S. Kilby
J.D. Merryman
Supercomputer 1976 J.H. Van Tassel
Parallel computing 1979 Seymour R. Cray, Jr.
David Gelernter

Cloth and Clothing:
Cotton gin 1793 Eli Whitney
Rubber vulcanization 1839 C. Goodyear
Sewing machine 1845 Elias Howe
Shoe welt stitcher 1874 C. Goodyear, Jr.
Zipper 1893 W.L. Judson
Rubber heel 1896 H. O'Sullivan
Cotton-picking machine 1936 John and Mack Rust
Nylon 1937 W.H. Carothers

Communications:
Typewriter 1829 W.A. Burt
Telegraph 1837 S.F.B. Morse
Morse code 1838 S.F.B. Morse
Rotary printing press 1846 Richard M. Hoe
Web-fed rotary press 1865 William Bullock
Telephone 1876 A.G. Bell
Phonograph 1877 Thomas Edison
Microphone 1878 D.E. Hughes
Linotype 1883 O. Mergenthaler
Fountain pen 1884 L.E. Waterman
Flexible roll film 1884 George Eastman
Halftone engraving 1886 F.E. Ives
Monotype 1887 Tolbert Lanston
Kodak camera 1888 George Eastman
Movie projector 1893 Thomas Edison
Telephotography 1904 Arthur Korn
Audion 1906 Lee De Forest
Superheterodyne radio circuit 1918 E.H. Armstrong
Sound motion pictures 1922-26 T.W. Case
Iconoscope 1923 V. Zworykin
Loudspeaker 1924 C.W. Rice E.W. Kellogg
Image dissector 1928 P. Farnsworth
Frequency modulation (FM) 1933 E.H. Armstrong
Xerography 1942 Chester Carlson
LP record 1948 Peter Carl Goldmark
Polaroid camera 1948 Edwin Land Walter H. Brattain
Videotape 1956 Charles Ginsberg Ray Dolby

Construction:
Cylinder lock 1860 Linus Yale
Carborundum 1891 E.G. Acheson
Air conditioning 1911 W.H. Carrier

Electricity and Electronics:
Arc lamp 1878 C.F. Brush
Incandescent lamp 1879 Thomas Edison
Transformer 1885 William Stanley
Transistor 1948 William Shockley John Bardeen
Laser 1958 Gordon Gould
Integrated circuit 1959 Jack Kilby Robert Noyce
Light-emitting diode 1962 Nick Holonyak, Jr.
Liquid-crystal display 1964 George Heilmeier
Microprocessor 1971 Ted Hoff

Food and Agriculture:
Cast-iron plow 1797 Charles Newbold
Ice-making machine 1830 Jacob Perkins
Reaper 1831 Cyrus McCormick
Steel plow 1837 John Deere
Refrigerating machine 1851 John Gorrie
Condensed milk 1853 Gail Borden
Harvester 1858 Charles and William Marsh
Refrigerator car 1877 G.F. Swift
Milk test 1890 S.M. Babcock
Quick-frozen food 1925 C. Birdseye
Microwave oven 1947 Percy L. Spencer

Medicine and Biotechnology:
Cardiac pacemaker 1932 A.S. Hyman
Polio vaccine 1954 Jonas Salk
Oral contraceptive 1955 Gregory Pincus
CAT scanner 1968 Allan Cormack (co-inventor)
Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging 1971 Raymond Damadian
Recombinant-DNA technology 1972-73 Paul Berg
Herbert W. Boyer Stanley Cohen
Positron emission tomography 1978 Louis Sokoloff
Jarvik-7 artificial heart 1978 Robert K. Jarvik

Industrial Materials:
Babbitt metal 1838 Isaac Babbitt
Bessemer converter 1851 William Kelly
Aluminum reduction 1886 Charles M. Hall (co-inv)
Bottle-making machinery 1904 Michael J. Owens

Scientific Instruments and Devices:
Bifocal spectacles 1760 Benjamin Franklin
Bathysphere 1930 Charles William Beebe
Cyclotron 1931 E.O. Lawrence
Betatron 1940 D.W. Kerst
Nuclear reactor 1942 Enrico Fermi
Synchrocyclotron 1945 E.M. McMillan (co-inv)
Maser 1953 Charles Townes
Carbon dating 1955 W.F. Libby
Superconducting magnetic levitation 1968 James Powell (co-inv)

Transportation and Energy:
Steamboat 1787 John Fitch
Screw propeller 1804 John Stevens
Electric streetcar 1834 Thomas Davenport
Hydraulic turbine 1849 James B. Francis
Elevator 1852 Elisha G. Otis
Sleeping car 1857 George M. Pullman
Streamlined train 1865 Samuel Calthrop
Railway air brakes 1868 G. Westinghouse
Car coupler 1873 Eli H. Janney
Tesla Coil 1891 Nikola Tesla (naturalized)
Self-powered model airplane 1896 S.P. Langley
Airplane 1903 Wright brothers
Gyrocompass 1911 Elmer A. Sperry
Automobile self-starter 1911 C.F. Kettering
Hydroplane 1911 Glenn Curtis
Ethyl gasoline 1922 T. Midgley, Jr
Traffic Signal 1923 Garrett Morgan
Electricity-producing breeder reactor 1951 Atomic Energy Commission
Solar cell 1954 D.M. Chaplin C.S. Fuller
G.L. Pearson

[ December 14, 2002, 02:25: Message edited by: Laches ]

I have to ask these 4 questions.
1) yeah?
2) and?
3) so?
4) what?

It's really baffling me here. Do they count as good things? I don;t think so, thats just some poll and I wasn't asked to vote in it so it can't be a very good 'cross section' of the worlds populations opinion there :p ;) . Seriouly though, just give your opinions here, not a list, none of those there would make it inot my thoughts of good things, important as they may have been.

Well Vermillion, then you didn't bother to read what was there and might I suggest may be being narrow minded. You said there was nothing good on that list? Do you know about Elanor Roosevelt? You don't think the polio vaccine is a good thing? You don't think the airplane was a good thing? You don't think affordable housing is a good thing? You don't think the art of Rogers and Hammerstein were a good thing? You don't think the artificial heart was a good thing? You don't think an automatic starter was a good thing? You don't think air conditioning was a good thing? What about the zipper? Nylon? Fountain Pen? Cat Scan? Condensed milk? Microprocessor?

I can't believe you think none of those were good things. Let me suggest that if you look at that list of inventions (not just a cut and paste job) and that list of people (not just a cut and paste job) and say "none of them make into my thoughts of good things" then we need to define good things because I'm BAFFLED at how the polio vaccine etc. is not a good thing.

Laches,
as for the gyrocompass beeing an american invention, that's not correct.

The gyrocompass was developed by the german inventor Dr. Hermann Anschütz-Kämpfe in 1907, his first patent in Germany beeing from 1904, 1907 in Britain. On 18.7.1909 Sperry visited Anschütz in his company and offered his services as their representative - to sell Anschütz products on the american market, and to manufacture the Anschütz gyrocompass under license.

However, soon after Sperry founded his Sperry Gyroscope Company and introduced a model of his own, a lightly modified version of the original, and offered it to the navies worldwide, including the german imperial navy of that time ( = before WW-I ).

Due to WW-I the following patent right process took several years, with the sentence that stated Sperry had copied Anschütz in 1915 and the following compensation process ending in 1918 and resulting in Sperry beeing sentenced not to use Anschütz patents any longer and to pay 300.000,-- RM (the german currency of that time, insert $ and you get the clue, a lot of money anyway) compensation and the costs of the process.

When Sperry introduced his modified copy of the Anschütz-gyrocompass in 1911, Anschütz already worked on his triple-gyrocompass. Elmar Ambrose Sperry was, doubtless talented but still, a thief and a swindler.

Interesting sidenote, the expert asked to analyze and compare the two gyrocompasses in the process was some Prof. Dr. Albert Einstein ;)

That info is from Bernhard Schell from Raytheon Marine, which merged with Anschütz a couple of years ago - he wrote it in response to someone who wrongly claimed gyroscopes were invented by Sperry, and I was so free to translate and sum up his text ;)

********************************************

PS: Maybe you should check if some more of the americans you noted were naturalised, like Fermi for example. Thats interesting with an immigration country - people from all over the world come there and bring with their ideas - and the fruit is all-american.
I find this "all-mine" attitute amusing, so I always laugh my ass off when I see Boeing advertising with their long successful history, printing pics with the Boeing DC-3 :shake:

PPS: Officially the Bessemer Converter was named Bessemer Converter because invented by some Sir Henry Bessemer, born on 19.1.1813 in Hitchin (Herfordshire), died in London on 15.3.1898. He invented the converter in 1855 - a brit :aaa: ! Even if Kelly was earlier by four year .... who cares?

Personally I find your listing a little pointless, I could make such a list for russia, germany, france, switzerland, britain (yes, even britain :p ) as well :rolleyes:

[ December 15, 2002, 11:53: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

Bringing up any invention is a little pointless as most inventors seem to be claimed by many different countries. Everyone should be aware that most countries beautify their own history especially when it comes to inventors and the like and mostly what they learn kids in school. If a famous person has spent any time in a country that country claims all his/her work as a part of their history when it educates their schoolchildren even if there are four other countries that have just as good a claim.
I also agree that supplying a huge list is pretty pointless as Ragusa said you can do one for every country. That doesnt mean that they arent good things though, except the persons at the top I stay my judgment of those :) .

Ah, so it is really, "good things America has given the world BUT NOT TOO MUCH?" Sure you could come up with a list of good inventions Russia has given the world and that would be a list of good things Russia has given the world. So what, why aren't inventions something good given to the world? I didn't include the revolver or neurton bomb only inventions that I thought were good. This is a topic for good things America has given the world right? Aren't good people (some debatable) and good inventions "good things?" If not, then I'd have to ask what are "good things."

Isn't Harley, listed by the person who started this whole thing an American invention? If that's good, why isn't regrigeration and the polio vaccine? The person who started the whole thing liste Clint Eastwood so, why aren't Rogers and Hammerstein okay?

Seriously, was the question "good things America gave the world but you can't spend any time or effort giving the matter some thought and research?" What kind of question is that?

I'd also like to point out this isn't a case of American's thumping their chest and saying "all ours" Ragusa. This was started by a non-American and there were debates about who invented what so I ended up trying to find out and in the process found all kinds of info and after reading through it all decided to post it.

Seriously, what are these "good" things we talk about. Just because other nations have inventions too it doesn't follow that America's aren't good -- that makes no sense. Now, Ragusa disputes one of the inventions and that's fine but as for saying that a list is irrelevant then I think you need to say how the polio vaccine etc. aren't good things.

Whole big copypaste list with american inventions which i better not post here again or tal will get pissedok, but who invented the thingys which laid the base for those inventions you just named, the wheel, written language, agriculture..
surely not the yanks :p

P.S.
Just that you know, almost all those people you mentioned have their roots in europe

[ December 15, 2002, 19:47: Message edited by: Morgoth ]

Sigh, Morgoth, I don't know where you got that quote, but did you read where I said I didn't cut and paste.

What is obvious though is that I made a big mistake in thinking before I posted. I will from now on try to follow the examples of others and let a monkey bang on my keyboard and then hit the reply button.

In the interest of rectifying my mistakes, I now admit that the list of inventions including the bifocal glasses, carbon dating, airplane, loudspeaker, artificial heart, polio vaccine etc were all not good things, in fact, they're bad things.

Allow me to revise my list in keeping with the prejudices of the one making the poll so that he can "settle" once and for all the debate of whether America has done anything "good" for the world once and for all via this highly scientific method conducted on a fair and impartial internet message board.

Please understand, as a dumb American, this list will be recited out loud by me as I allow my monkey to bang the key board in a voice sounding like Homer Simpson intoxicated.

So, to satisfy your demands, (drumroll), here is a new list to fit your prejudiced expectations:

PORN CHIKS!!!!!!
NUKES DUDE!!!!!
George Washington Carver (NO STRIKE THAT!!!)
SOUTH PARK!!!!
JACK ASS!!!!
THE KKK!!!!

There, I hope that new list is more in line with your pre-determined outcome. In the future, please let it be known that you don't want anyone to think or research before answering any of your polls/questions, it will save me some time.

If you would like me to stick my monkey back on the keyboard at any time in the future just let me know.

Best Regards -- Laches, PAM ANDERSON SEX TAPE!!!! (down monkey, down!)

Now, Ragusa disputes one of the inventions and that's fine but as for saying that a list is irrelevant then I think you need to say how the polio vaccine etc. aren't good things.OK: Plenty of these invenventions were good and splendid things and they made this world a better place, bringing progress. But that hasn't anything to do with the fact they were american (or not). Polio vaccination would have been as progressive when from russia ... or france ... ;)

I mean, america has benefited from pasteurisation (from France), penicilin (from Britain), high speed aerodynamics (from Germany - for free even) as well ... so what?
There has always been a know how exchange between the countries, so there is hardly a point in expecting thank for these inventions, usually you pay royalties for the patents, from a cynics point of view that might be enough already. No need for group hugs IMO.

Christ people! Americans aren't asking for thanks for anything. A non-American asked a question and I answered. Ragusa you say that inventions by Americans don't count as good things from America. In that sense, no country has given any good thing to anyone because necessarily everything comes from individuals since individuals make up nations.

Really, why are people complaining about the polio vaccine as a good thing but the zippo lighter is okay? Didn't the zippo lighter come from a person and not America if that's your argument?

I really think prejudices are showing. I'd be happy to research a similar list for a similar question on Russia and would readily and happily admit they've done a lot of good things for the world. Why can't the people here do the same for America? I don't find it surprising though given that I've been reading this board for a while.

This entire "experiment" is a farce and I shouldn't have bothered but from now on I'll step aside and let you reach whatever conclusions you want while I keep my mouth shut.

PS: Maybe you should check if some more of the americans you noted were naturalised, like Fermi for example. Yeah, Laches, you know, Pam Anderson is CANADIAN! Don't you dare claim her as an American good thing! ... wait a minute. I've changed my mind. You can have her. In fact, I insist, on the grounds that her breasts were made in America. :D

Ragusa, I disagree that naturalised Americans are not really American. If they chose America over, say, Germany or France, then they are Americans and their invention should be credited to the stimulating environment they found in their new country. If I ever mange to win a prize for work done in Canada I will be downright offended if France, England or the United States claims me based on my ancestry, place of birth, or family connections.

Well, somebody misunderstood me.
The purpose of my last post was to show to the average american (with an atitude of "look we are the most superior race on the planet") that all these basics of their inventions, agriculture, written language, etc, etc.. come from a region the Americans have now put happliy in a christmas axis of evil list,

The average American sees europe and asia as dumb, retarded, arrogant and barbarian, while a small region in nowadays Iraq has been the origin of all human prosperity..

My last post was not meant to say that all your inventions were bad or evil (I didnt even use the words "bad" or "evil", they all have helped with our evolution of science), it was meant to remind the average American of were the basics came from.. you know that..
But remember that only 13% of the Americans who have done the NGtest can find Afghanistan on a worldmap

So, grouphug?? :D

Latches, I agree. IMO your post is relevant, about as relevant as the others. I hate every topic either being anti-American or too blindly with US patriotism.
The bottom line is that you are on topic, but this topic is flying again in the same directions as others before.

The list was a tad long though, and the people name s were a bit much.

[ December 15, 2002, 20:58: Message edited by: Astin X ]

Laches, how many people on that list weren't American? Thats the point I was making, list the good things America has given the world, NOT list a load of influential people. FFS you said the thread's name, why not realise what it means?

According to the patents, everybody on that list was American at the time the patent was given. Now, if you want to complain that some of them were born elsewhere and became naturalized then go right ahead.

This wasnt an attack on your nor on american inventions, but things are more than inventions and I thought this topic was supposed to distill every persons own few things that they thought were really good and that the US had given the world. It would have been enough to just say loads of wicked inventions :) . But that is only how I perceived the topic and that may wrong and other perceive it otherwise I just wanted to chime in.

Laches, again I think you missed the point I was making, please think about it instead of flaming huh? And I should say one thing besides, perhaps this will help you decide to sit and think clearly about this thread, yes there's a lot of good stuff there OK? Truce yet? Or you still wanting to ship me to Iraq? ;) :p Besides, I'm more looking at the bad things thread now for the summing up, hopefully the summing up thread won't fall into a flaming shambles. Time will tell I suppose.

Sounds like a load of sour grapes if you ask me

*desperatly trying to stop this topic from falling from good side of America into a flaming thread*

Erm,..... Futurama, the Simpsons and Nirvana

[ December 16, 2002, 16:38: Message edited by: Morgoth ]

@Morgoth
Heh, good un, lets get this back on track :) .

Joliet Jake an his 'brother' Elwood Blues

Satchmo, Miles Davis, Booker T., New Orleans, St.Louis, Memphis, Jazz, Fusion, Funk, Blues, etc

Wes Scantlin

Peace of mind and the confidence that for every mindset problem there is a hardware solution available, right off the shelf.

During a catastrophe like a hurricane, tornado, flood or even an earthquake there is no law, no order, no rescue, a city can be packed with people but everyone is on their own, because police officers and fireman, rescue or doctors, they all have families to worry about. At this point it's the most important thing in their mind, and it is simply called self preservation or surviving.( from here (http://www.usbunkers.com/whyBuy.htm) )Don't be afraid, there is a solution: http://www.usbunkers.com/aboutUs.htm

Mushrooms, mushrooms everywhere,
they make feel so confident :1eye:

Erm....I'm thinking...

I'm sure I'll get totally flamed for this, but almost all popular music drawing on rock or rhythm & blues.

There never would have been the Rolling Stones if Chuck Berry hadn't come first.

The "all-mine" attitude I mentioned before: To make sure the american taxpayer and customer in general doesn't becomes confused and upset when america is up to aquire equipment and weapons of foreign origin they are given american manufacturers and names immediately :D

Like here: The good old Mauser BK-27 27mm aircraft cannon (as developed for (http://www.mauser-online.com/uk/productarea/airforce/index.htm) and used in the Tornado, Eurofighter and Gripen) suddenly became a Boeing product (http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2000/news_release_000629n.htm) when it was chosen for the JSF aka F-35 :D The Advanced 27mm Aircraft Cannon, developed by a Boeing-led team, will be the weapon of choice for the next- generation Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.:D as Boeing *led* as an off-the-shelf buy can be :shake:

And there: A variant of the successful swiss Pilatus PC-9 trainer, chosen as the new training aircraft for the US armed forces became the Raytheon Texan-II. The gross thing is that America there now competes vs the original manufacturer, which made Pilatus develop the improved PC-21 to deal with that.

But US companies also do so, here it's Boeing again, with products from american companies they aquired: The good old Douglas DC-3 became the Boeing DC-3 after the merger of both companies :shake: Weird habit, I just can't stop wondering about it.

[ January 16, 2003, 11:57: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

Saturday night live

Hehe Rags, that's a little misleading of you. The cannon is not being taken off the shelf and simply bolted on. They are developing a new system based on the Mauser cannon, and Mauser is even one of the team members. This was even acknowledged in the article you linked to.

As for the partners: Primex license-produces the 27mm Ammunition and Western-Design quite probably (since that company is specialised in ammunition handling) the magazine optimised for the JSF airframe. That's about it.
Admittedly, Mauser increased the cyclic rate of the gun, however I don't know if this was done for the Eurofighter already. Doing all that, integrating the gun, is definitely more than just bolting it on but still doesn't makes it a genuine *Boeing* thing :p