USA -v- Europe.

[AvHdB]

Whole Foods and Trader Joe's is high quality stuff...probably similar to Waitrose in the UK. 

Trader Joe's frozen food is nothing more than rebranded and allot more expensive Lidl products. The fresh foods of Trader Joe's is of good quality but expensive.

Like Walmart and Costco, there are indeed good quality products available at Lidl.

[andrewfi]

Almost right. Trader Joe's is a brand owned by Albrecht Discounts which is also the parent company of Aldi.

I did not know that until I checked just now but that insight explains, in part at least, why British Aldi, with which I am familiar, has in recent years, taken to carrying upmarket lines including category beaters in certain categories. This being a significant move away from the policy of knockoffs of brand leader lines at lower cost (and quality) but which, ceteris paribus, offered great value for money.

[AvHdB]

Andrew trying to prove he knows all.

If one knows product packaging one can see that many of the frozen products of Lidl and Trader Joe's are produced at the same facilities in the Unites States. They taste about the same, only one is more expensive.

[andrewfi]

AvHdB, given the intense rivalry between Ali and Lidl the suggestion that Trader Joe's merely rebrands Lidl produce is risible.

If you were to be more thoughtful you'd come to the more sensible conclusion that most retailers do not manufacture their own products and so they buy from specialist suppliers. Products that carry the retailers branding are usually designed to the requirements of the retailer to meet price points, brand image and niche placement.

Because the suppliers will not usually use different base packaging materials from one buyer to another you will often find that, for example, microwave or oven resistant plastic containers will be the same for many buyers and brands. As a former retailer in the FMCG area, for a couple of years, I found it interesting, in a minor way, to identify the source of products by the packaging. Obviously as the products become less generic and more heavily branded then the packaging is customised (beverage bottles, hair care, some foodstuffs spring to mind) But Aldi and Lidl, like most other retailers do not want to spend the money on unnecessary fripperies, they concentrate upon the wrappers and the product - that's their value proposition.

[AvHdB]

AvHdB, given the intense rivalry between Ali and Lidl the suggestion that Trader Joe's merely rebrands Lidl produce is risible.

If you were to be more thoughtful you'd come to the more sensible conclusion that most retailers do not manufacture their own products and so they buy from specialist suppliers. Products that carry the retailers branding are usually designed to the requirements of the retailer to meet price points, brand image and niche placement.

Because the suppliers will not usually use different base packaging materials from one buyer to another you will often find that, for example, microwave or oven resistant plastic containers will be the same for many buyers and brands. As a former retailer in the FMCG area, for a couple of years, I found it interesting, in a minor way, to identify the source of products by the packaging. Obviously as the products become less generic and more heavily branded then the packaging is customised (beverage bottles, hair care, some foodstuffs spring to mind) But Aldi and Lidl, like most other retailers do not want to spend the money on unnecessary fripperies, they concentrate upon the wrappers and the product - that's their value proposition.

Andrew, Because you are challenged, why not buy a package of say frozen shrimp and Mandarin chicken from said stores in the US. Compare the codes.

Than blind cook the product and try to distinguish.

Get back to us. Oh and please let us know the price difference.

[Manny]

London has good food in general but the Chinese food still can't compete with California.  Go to the Chinatown in LA or San Franc and you'll know.

Chinese food is better in China I find. 

But I get where you're coming from.

[Guile]

Chinese food is better in China I find. 

But I get where you're coming from.

Not in my suburb!    Almost half my city is Chinese with many being wealthy, rich newcomers who will spend big money for quality food.

Even the HK people say the Cantonese cuisine here is better in general than what you can get in HK!  I just had the satay beef chow fun and hainan chicken with HK dong nai cha and damn if it wasn't tasty.

[Contrarian]

In the frozen food aisle Amy’s vegetarian meals are very good, but the skinflints may not like them as they are spendy.

Rosco have you ever tried using Trip Advisor to find a good restaurant when traveling?

Also many American restaurants have a “light and fit” section on the menu for lighter and healthier food.

Too large of portions is definitely a problem in the USA and the high percentage of female hippos over here is visible evidence. 

[Contrarian]

Chinese food is better in China I find. 

But I get where you're coming from.

Not in my suburb!    Almost half my city is Chinese with many being wealthy, rich newcomers who will spend big money for quality food.

Even the HK people say the Cantonese cuisine here is better in general than what you can get in HK!  I just had the satay beef chow fun and hainan chicken with HK dong nai cha and damn if it wasn't tasty.

Never been to China but I agree Asian food is damn good in So Cal!

[2tallbill]

NOTE: Late to the party, just thought I would throw my two kopecks
out there.

(doesn't every normal guy dream of a superior European model?)

British class and education, French wine, Dutch cheese, German cars, Danish design, Italian style, rich culture and FSU women.

-v-

The American condition, ropey weak beer, plastic cheese, cars that fall apart, no design to speak of, no style or culture at all and overweight, feminist women who see therapists and watch Jerry Springer.

Yes, I see your point.

NOBODY DREAMS of A European model if the woman is a Feminist which
100% outside the FSU are. 

Let's see
British food, French organizational abilities and business acumen, Dutch
generosity, German poetry, Danish taxes, Italian punctuality and FSU
graft. 

VS

Cajun food, American barbecue and meat, American business acumen,
American generosity, American and English poetry, American punctuality,
and American court system, American taxes. 

[rosco]

NOTE: Late to the party, just thought I would throw my two kopecks
out there.

(doesn't every normal guy dream of a superior European model?)

British class and education, French wine, Dutch cheese, German cars, Danish design, Italian style, rich culture and FSU women.

-v-

The American condition, ropey weak beer, plastic cheese, cars that fall apart, no design to speak of, no style or culture at all and overweight, feminist women who see therapists and watch Jerry Springer.

Yes, I see your point.

NOBODY DREAMS of A European model if the woman is a Feminist which
100% outside the FSU are. 

Let's see
British food, French organizational abilities and business acumen, Dutch
generosity, German poetry, Danish taxes, Italian punctuality and FSU
graft. 

VS

Cajun food, American barbecue and meat, American business acumen,
American generosity, American and English poetry, American punctuality,
and American court system, American taxes.

I guessed it would turn into something like this and its normal for us to be proud of the best things our country has to offer. Plus, if everything was as good as back home, we'd have nothing to complain about on holiday!!

Bill - If I were sad and lonely enough, I could give you bad examples of each of your American positives but I'm not stupid enough to say all US food is bad and the American Court System is amazing. Likewise, the stuff about squint teeth, bad food, the weather, Muslims raping kids and so on, isn't generally representative of the Uk.

I just thought it was an interesting observation from trusted folks who don't usually complain about stuff. And yes......we know how to use Trip Advisor too Confederate. I understand it didn't help during this particular visit. And either did the over sold flights on the way home where my dad booked 7 premium seats together months in advance, only to have a large black lady give him attitude at the airport in Tampa.

They wanted to separate everyone including the kids, put some in economy and others on standby, even though it was booked months ago and they were the first in line. Luckily my dads a skilled negotiator and opened up with "but why me, why would you check everyone else on behind me.....not I'm not f*cking moving!". What a way to end a holiday.....

 

[Manny]

a large black lady give him attitude at the airport in Tampa.

Atlanta is worse. 

Gotta love the brainless employee you get in the US. I once had a border guy unable to grasp the concept that I'll drive south and get a hotel tonight so I dont know what my address will be. He construed that into my being a "vagrant" and offered to deport me unless I gave him an address, goddammit.

Fine. 1234 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Orlando, FL12345. He was happy with that. Thick as pig sh!t. 

[Contrarian]

a large black lady give him attitude at the airport in Tampa.

Atlanta is worse. 

Gotta love the brainless employee you get in the US. I once had a border guy unable to grasp the concept that I'll drive south and get a hotel tonight so I dont know what my address will be. He construed that into my being a "vagrant" and offered to deport me unless I gave him an address, goddammit.

Fine. 1234 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Orlando, FL12345. He was happy with that. Thick as pig sh!t. 

Sad but true about most airport employees. 

I think they figure if you can put up with ‘em you’re not a terrorist.

[2tallbill]

I guessed it would turn into something like this and its normal for us to be proud of the best things our country has to offer. Plus, if everything was as good as back home, we'd have nothing to complain about on holiday!!

Bill - If I were sad and lonely enough, I could give you bad examples of each of your American positives but I'm not stupid enough to say all US food is bad and the American Court System is amazing. Likewise, the stuff about squint teeth, bad food, the weather, Muslims raping kids and so on, isn't generally representative of the Uk.

Manny started it but If you can't tease the UK about food and weather then
what's the world coming to? Teeth was a bit of a low (and outdated) blow, I
didn't mention Muslims, child rapists and such. Next I'll be hearing complaints
from German poets?

[Donhollio]

a large black lady give him attitude at the airport in Tampa.

Atlanta is worse. 

Gotta love the brainless employee you get in the US. I once had a border guy unable to grasp the concept that I'll drive south and get a hotel tonight so I dont know what my address will be. He construed that into my being a "vagrant" and offered to deport me unless I gave him an address, goddammit.

Fine. 1234 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Orlando, FL12345. He was happy with that. Thick as pig sh!t. 

London was the same for me.  Customs agent fanning my passport asking for an address, and threats of you cant enter unless you have one. Told him a friend was outside to pick me up, now he wanted his identification and address. Told him I havent a clue, and what's the problem. He spouts back some more shit I cant recall and allows me into the UK.
 Getting asked questions is fine, Its a privilege to be allowed into another country, not a right, but his attitude was as shitty as the weather that day.
 My experiences entering the states has been all over the map. As a long haired leather clad guy in my 20's, sometimes we'd get hauled inside for some questions, most times it was  3 questions. " Are you all Canadians?"  Any of you ever been charged?" Where and for how long y'all gonna be in the USA? A quick flash of our photoless drivers license and we're off to the rock festivals.
 Today post September 11th its photos flashes as you approach the kiosk, hand over the passport, and sometimes off to the xray machine. Recently they had me recant my early run ins. Took almost an hour, and it seemed pointless as I pointed out to her that I've crossed here fifty times in the past. Following trip south they hauled me in again, started with the questions and I told them I went through all of this a few months earlier. A quick check and I was off down I-29.
 Only encountered one agent with a sense of humour. She asked me what I did for a living, I told her, and ask asked if I was a good plumber. I replied I was one of the top 200 in Winnipeg.  She laughed and i was off.
 But life was better pre 911, today border towns are barricaded and the invisible border is now gone, America changed.

[Wiz]

Cultural Differences Between the USA
and EUROPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutQz-MkVYQ

WHAT?! You have to pay to use public toilets, and to drink water in Europe?! And cigarettes are fashionable?

It's about time someone addresses the cultural differences between the USA and Europe!

Drew Binsky: I just finished a 6 week Eurotrip -- which means I've now spent more than 1 year of my life in Europe, and visited every single country on the continent (yes, all 45 countries!)

While many things are similar about American and European culture, there are plenty of little (and BIG) differences that I'd like to bring to your attention in this video!

That was an educational video for our American members..... and it's not mine!   Caffy has already agreed with me....

The next video is special for Moby who is dead in bed.. today!

Enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR7plVR0zMM&t=1108s

 

[rosco]

I guessed it would turn into something like this and its normal for us to be proud of the best things our country has to offer. Plus, if everything was as good as back home, we'd have nothing to complain about on holiday!!

Bill - If I were sad and lonely enough, I could give you bad examples of each of your American positives but I'm not stupid enough to say all US food is bad and the American Court System is amazing. Likewise, the stuff about squint teeth, bad food, the weather, Muslims raping kids and so on, isn't generally representative of the Uk.

Manny started it but If you can't tease the UK about food and weather then
what's the world coming to? Teeth was a bit of a low (and outdated) blow, I
didn't mention Muslims, child rapists and such. Next I'll be hearing complaints
from German poets?

Don't worry Bill it wasn't meant to be a prickly response. It's just that some of the members here who think life in Spain or New Zealand is similar to that in Ukraine.....might actually believe you! 

[andrewfi]

In a country where, outside of Kiev, one might expect to earn perhaps $200 per month, it is hard to imagine how such a place might be considered a part of the advanced world.

It is hard to believe it but these days, Ukrainians might well look in envy at their peers in Moldova just as Moldovan people might have looked at Ukraine as the land of plenty 15 years ago. (Believe it or not, that's how it was when I studied there for a short while)

Much of Moldova was essentially cashless. Back then average wages were about $50 per month. At the same time one could look at fashionably dressed young women and men in smart clubs and bars, or hanging out on Stefan Cel Mare. There were plenty of smart, expensive cars. People always put on their best show for foreigners and a short term visitor could easily persuade themselves that the place was much more prosperous than was the case. As it happens, I was fooled for a while until a kind, friendly, woman shared with me the facts of life - at least as they applied in her beloved country. What she taught me back then stood me in good stead for visits to other places, other countries; helped me to understand what to look for, what to do, to come to grips with a new environment.

Ukraine, now is Moldova then.

[msmoby]

In a country where, outside of Kiev, one might expect to earn perhaps $200 per month, it is hard to imagine how such a place might be considered a part of the advanced world.

Indeed it has regressed ..having serial corrupt leadership and a third nation aiding 'separatists' would have nothing to do with it ....

Interesting you should mention Moldova, andrewfi ... another nation held back by a 'frozen conflict'  - part of it being 'run' by folks given RU passports by the common denominator 'third nation '...

[rosco]

Briton Tyson Fury plans to help the homeless in the United Kingdom with some of his earnings from his fight against Deontay Wilder on Saturday.
Fury will fight the American in Los Angeles for the WBC heavyweight title.
"When I go home I'm going to build some homes for the homeless and set up some funds for drug addicts and alcoholics," said 30-year-old Fury.
"I was always going to do it but being here (in California) gives me that extra push to go and do it even more."

'You think you might be in a third world country'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/46369351

People often view Cali as a glamorous location, with plenty cash and liberal ideals but here's another side to it, in the eyes of Tyson Fury. If I were American, I'd be wanting my government to spend its cash on fixing your own problems, before scattering it around the globe in the pursuit of influence.

[2tallbill]

People often view Cali as a glamorous location, with plenty cash and liberal ideals but here's another side to it, in the eyes of Tyson Fury. If I were American, I'd be wanting my government to spend its cash on fixing your own problems, before scattering it around the globe in the pursuit of influence.

It's an excellent point, the homeless population which is primarily people
with mental health issues or drug addicts. There was a book then a movie
many moons ago called "The one who flew over the Cuckoos Nest" which
made many liberals believe that we needed to empty the lunatic asylums
and let people suffering from paranoid schizophrenia free, thinking that they
are just a quirky Jack Nicholson who could fend for themselves.   

They also set up a set of laws protecting their rights from being detained
for their own good. The problems with people suffering from schizophrenia
is that they are paranoid and think everyone else is crazy instead of them. 

Many people suffering from schizophrenia can be treated with medication.
However being paranoid they are sure that the medication is the cause of
their problems and that everyone else is crazy besides themselves.

They have a chemical imbalance inside their brains and that imbalance
causes them to act totally irrationally. They could no longer hold down
a job than they could use time travel and make a killing on the stock
market.

There isn't any law that can force them to take medication and without it
they can't function, so they live in the streets. Once again a liberal solution
caused more problems than they solved but prefer to blame unrelated things
rather than find an actual solution.

If you talk about the homeless problem a liberal will decry the lack of affordable
housing, without knowing that their own regulations against building are one
of the biggest parts of the high cost of building and that schizophrenic couldn't
pay $100 per month and would probably burn the place down in any case. 

Liberal solutions never help the solve the problems which they caused to
begin with.

So we have the crazies crapping in the streets rather than a mental hospital, 
living on panhandling and theft. They tend to live in areas that are governed
by liberals because they have the fewest laws against pooping in public.

[Contrarian]

People often view Cali as a glamorous location, with plenty cash and liberal ideals but here's another side to it, in the eyes of Tyson Fury. If I were American, I'd be wanting my government to spend its cash on fixing your own problems, before scattering it around the globe in the pursuit of influence.

It's an excellent point, the homeless population which is primarily people
with mental health issues or drug addicts. There was a book then a movie
many moons ago called "The one who flew over the Cuckoos Nest" which
made many liberals believe that we needed to empty the lunatic asylums
and let people suffering from paranoid schizophrenia free, thinking that they
are just a quirky Jack Nicholson who could fend for themselves.   

They also set up a set of laws protecting their rights from being detained
for their own good. The problems with people suffering from schizophrenia
is that they are paranoid and think everyone else is crazy instead of them. 

Many people suffering from schizophrenia can be treated with medication.
However being paranoid they are sure that the medication is the cause of
their problems and that everyone else is crazy besides themselves.

They have a chemical imbalance inside their brains and that imbalance
causes them to act totally irrationally. They could no longer hold down
a job than they could use time travel and make a killing on the stock
market.

There isn't any law that can force them to take medication and without it
they can't function, so they live in the streets. Once again a liberal solution
caused more problems than they solved but prefer to blame unrelated things
rather than find an actual solution.

If you talk about the homeless problem a liberal will decry the lack of affordable
housing, without knowing that their own regulations against building are one
of the biggest parts of the high cost of building and that schizophrenic couldn't
pay $100 per month and would probably burn the place down in any case. 

Liberal solutions never help the solve the problems which they caused to
begin with.

So we have the crazies crapping in the streets rather than a mental hospital, 
living on panhandling and theft. They tend to live in areas that are governed
by liberals because they have the fewest laws against pooping in public.

Most of what you wrote is certainly true however I think you missed part of what Rosco wrote which is that the USA spends money around the World but not enough at home. I agree with that. Our Defense budget is bloated and if we brought all of our troops home from various parts of the Middle East as well as Afghanistan we could afford to spend more money on domestic issues.

California in particular has a very high homeless population and a big part of that is the liberal fool named Jerry Brown who wants to have sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. The situation at the border is a prime example of the difference between "liberals" and Conservatives. Normal sane people want border security and a large decrease in immigration. Huge numbers of people in California are living in tents due to the fires destroying Paradise (yet another liberal caused problem) yet the lunatics want even more illegals.

So my direction in seeking a solution would be to spend less money overseas as Rosco has stated but also to have increased border security, no sanctuary cities and even better no food stamps or Section 8 housing for illegals or even for immigrants in particular. From now on only sponsored immigrants who have good educations and job offers already waiting.

[rosco]

In the UK, the liberals also have an unhealthy obsession with throwing money at foreign countries and immigrants. I always thought it was some kind of hangover or guilt from the days of the Empire. We’ve got far too many UK nationals who need more support yet the clowns in control fall over themselves, being more than generous to others.

Look at all the foreign aid you guys dish out yet large parts of Detroit, Cali, New Orleans and so on, look like the 3rd world. Grim.

[Contrarian]

In the UK, the liberals also have an unhealthy obsession with throwing money at foreign countries and immigrants. I always thought it was some kind of hangover or guilt from the days of the Empire. We’ve got far too many UK nationals who need more support yet the clowns in control fall over themselves, being more than generous to others.

Look at all the foreign aid you guys dish out yet large parts of Detroit, Cali, New Orleans and so on, look like the 3rd world. Grim.

Yes agreed. Detroit was once a World class city. The leadership has been Democratic for decades, they stole money and drove the city into bankruptcy. Parts of it look like a war zone. Certainly not befitting for a nation which claims to be "exceptional".

[Steamer]

Yes agreed. Detroit was once a World class city. The leadership has been Democratic for decades, they stole money and drove the city into bankruptcy. Parts of it look like a war zone. Certainly not befitting for a nation which claims to be "exceptional".

It's a lot more than just parts of it. The photo is of the old Packard plant, just beyond it is the residential area and it looks worse. If they burned the entire city to the ground it would be an improvement.