Tarting up Tartan week

[Ugly Bear]

There seem to be a small group of people who spend their days adding offensive comments to all kinds of articles ...

Yeah, it's the same everywhere. The loudest, whiniest, axe-grinding-est and busybody-est are always the ones to post early and often.

They do make an impression, though. We don't ignore them completely. Tourism to Europe from America had, in the past, been popular even with an unfavorable exchange rate. These days, such tourism is way down in number of travelers, due in no small part to the impression that Americans are not welcome.

Were I to actually travel to Scotland, I'm sure I would encounter a wide range of opinions regarding my national identity. I know there are Scots who are happy to meet people from overseas, and some who just groan at Yanks wearing kilts around town. I'm sure they have a wide range of views on America's culture, politics, whatever. I don't know what the consensus might be, or to what extent publications like The Guardian actually represent the British (let alone the Scots). I'm not anxious to find out.

Our way around that seems to be to re-create bits of Europe throughout the States. From building a small replica of Paris in Las Vegas to holding regional Highland Games, there seems to be nothing we won't adopt and adapt.

[Phil]

Ugly Bear - I have no doubt that you would encounter nothing but a welcome if you visit Scotland. The Guardian is an English newspaper and 99% of its views and contents reflect that. Also they are very much against the Iraq war and Tony Blair's support for it and their views on Global warming are verging on hysteria. World War III could be going on in Scotland and they wouldn't notice though. Read the Herald or Scotsman to get a better idea of what is happening in Scotland but keep an open mind. These papers don't sell copies by printing dog bites man stories - it's man bites dog stories they want and they don't usually mind whether they are true or not.