# Country curiosities



## Guifrog (Mar 8, 2019)

Seems every new post idea of mine for the Useless Facts thread turns out to be a Brazilian fact, so I thought I'd give this theme a more specific place.

Feel free to share any quirk about your home land here. :>


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## Infrarednexus (Mar 8, 2019)

Fun fact about the state I live in, Arkansas

It is the birthplace of the famous singer, Johny Cash.


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## CertifiedCervine (Mar 8, 2019)

One of the local towns here, will fine up to 50$ for throwing snowballs.


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## CrookedCroc (Mar 8, 2019)

In some parts of southern Mexico some street vendors will serve you soda in a plastic bag with a straw, I don't know how this started but it's pretty funny


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## Fallowfox (Mar 8, 2019)

You're next, Mongolia.


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## Yakamaru (Mar 8, 2019)

My country is the home of the infamous ostehøvel, lomper and vikings. Oh, and fish and oil exports.


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## Cyroo (Mar 8, 2019)

Poutine is a national treasure.


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## The Matte-Black Cat (Mar 8, 2019)

Here's one,

I hate it. :3

Just kidding...



Spoiler



maybe


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## Firuthi Dragovic (Mar 8, 2019)

I'd be here all day if I talked about my home state of New York, even if I just restricted it to the Upstate regions.  (For instance, there are a LOT of musicians from up here.)  So I'll stick to just this:

My hometown used to be the site of a glass factory.


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## TR273 (Mar 8, 2019)

In Scotland it is illegal to be drunk in charge of a cow.


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## AppleButt (Mar 8, 2019)

My town in Mississippi  is the birthplace of Elvis Presley.


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## JakeTheFoXx (Mar 8, 2019)

Not necessarily a quirk, but we have some beautiful sunsets in the state of Kansas in the US. I am from Florida and have never seen sunsets like this until I moved here. Not much else going on though lol

Delano District in Wichita KS USA


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## Dragoneer (Mar 8, 2019)

I was born and partly raised in Germany, but I'm American... so... I have no real feeling that the United States is my "home". But I can tie them both together.

As a kid, I lived in Baltimore, MD. Baltimore is famous for literally putting Old Bay seasoning on damn near everything it makes, _especially _if it came from the ocean. Most people probably know Old Bay from "crab chips". They've even made an Old Bay-flavored vodka, too. Old Bay was created by a German immigrant and named after a passenger ship.


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## Connor J. Coyote (Mar 9, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> You're next, Mongolia.


@Fallowfox
Number of average Americans who care :


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## quoting_mungo (Mar 9, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> You're next, Mongolia.


Bwahaha, Sweden escaped the clutches of the British!

Scandinavia (ie vikings) invaded early Britain and actually had a non-trivial influence on the development of early English. You can see this in very early literary works (Beowulf), which pretty much have at least as much in common with old Scandinavian as old English.


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 9, 2019)

The story of Greece in a nutshell


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## Fallowfox (Mar 9, 2019)

quoting_mungo said:


> Bwahaha,* Sweden escaped the clutches of the British!*
> 
> Scandinavia (ie vikings) invaded early Britain and actually had a non-trivial influence on the development of early English. You can see this in very early literary works (Beowulf), which pretty much have at least as much in common with old Scandinavian as old English.



For now! >:3 We gon' getcha, Sweden. 

And yes, our grammar used to be much more highly inflected, like German is, and became highly simplified after the Danelaw. It's probably why Scandinavians find English so easy to learn.


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## dragon-in-sight (Mar 9, 2019)

-In Germany we have 16 Federal States and 300 types of bread.
-Gay marriage was possible here since 2001
-Withe the "Wacken open Air" we have one of the worlds biggest Metal Festivals. It's like woodstock for Headbangers.


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## Furrium (Mar 9, 2019)

In my city, the weather is almost always bad, a la London, and there are soooo many cats here.


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## mahaute (Mar 9, 2019)

Curently, in my province, we are making a full waepons registery, because people want to reduce gun violence.

My province of 8 million peoples had 93 murder last years.

Less then half of those were by guns.


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## larigot (Mar 9, 2019)

My country is a bit narco-state-y.


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 9, 2019)

larigot said:


> narco-state-y.


hahahahaha that's an interesting description XD


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## larigot (Mar 9, 2019)

For want of better word. The location is probably unexpected but unsurprising.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 9, 2019)

mahaute said:


> Curently, in my province, we are making a full waepons registery, because people want to reduce gun violence.
> 
> My province of 8 million peoples had 93 murder last years.
> 
> Less then half of those were by guns.



I wondered what these numbers really meant, so I've compared them to my own country's biggest city, London. 

London's metropolitan area has 13.6 million people and had 131 homicides last year. 13 of those were shootings, so what, 1 in 10. 

So that's a rate of 131/136 (/100k) ~ 1 murders per hundred thousand people, or ~0.1 fatal shootings per hundred thousand.
Your province is at ~1.16 murders per hundred thousand people, so ~0.58 fatal shootings per hundred thousand. 

So your province has about the same rate of murders as London, but they're more likely to involve guns. 

I compared to some other country-level data. Your province's homicide rate would be considered more or less average in western Europe, but amazingly it's lower than 49 US states!


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## Guifrog (Mar 9, 2019)

My state (Pernambuco) has a population of 9 million and 4,170 homicides were registered by our government in 2018 :<


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## Deleted member 111470 (Mar 9, 2019)

During the first sunday of the new year, we have festivals where people dress up in these huge stinky fur costumes and dance:


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## ConorHyena (Mar 9, 2019)

dragon-in-sight said:


> -In Germany we have 16 Federal States and 300 types of bread.
> -Gay marriage was possible here since 2001
> -Withe the "Wacken open Air" we have one of the worlds biggest Metal Festivals. It's like woodstock for Headbangers.



Actually, gay marriage was legalized in october 2017 in germany o:

Some positive facts to go with it: Franconia, the area of Germany where I usually live has one of the highest density of breweries in the world.


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 9, 2019)

Rimna said:


> During the first sunday of the new year, we have festivals where people dress up in these huge stinky fur costumes and dance:



Hmmm Can't tell if this satisfies my furriness or not


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Mar 9, 2019)

It's technically illegal in the United States for a Communist to hold political office, thanks to the Communist Control Act, but this law has pretty much never been enforced because it is flagrantly unconstitutional. 

The US Government ran a program through the FBI called Cointelpro that used various means up to and likely including murder to sabotage left wing political groups, including non violent anti-war groups. Assassinations cannot be proven but are likely in the case of a number of radical figures who died during thinly justified FBI and police raids. Typical means where infiltration and purposefully causing social conflicts within groups to create divisions and drama, until these groups devolved into bickering and ultimately dissolved. We probably wouldn't know about this if a radical group known as the Weather Underground hadn't infiltrated and raided FBI documents on the program, which were then circulated and verified to be authentic.


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## CrookedCroc (Mar 9, 2019)

Rimna said:


> During the first sunday of the new year, we have festivals where people dress up in these huge stinky fur costumes and dance:


This feels like an old Star Trek episode


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## mahaute (Mar 9, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> I wondered what these numbers really meant, so I've compared them to my own country's biggest city, London.
> 
> London's metropolitan area has 13.6 million people and had 131 homicides last year. 13 of those were shootings, so what, 1 in 10.
> 
> ...



If my knowledge of gun control is up to date, england has some pretty damn good law about it!!

I live in Quebec, and the stats for 2017 where a bit fucked up by a) a mass shooting and b) a rather vicious mafia war (there was like 8 different murder related only to that single event, and all shooting!!)

We might be considered average but we still want to reduce gun violence. There is also the huge problem of illegal guns comming in from the US that we have to deal with. All in all, it's a pretty good stat compare to the US.


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## Jackpot Raccuki (Mar 9, 2019)

I may not be in Canada anymore. But, quack.




I don't know about you, but I would've felt great knowing my tax was paying for this floaty boi.

But I guess now that I'm in the England... Uhh...
They seem to have too many accents here and I somehow got one, please send help.


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## CrookedCroc (Mar 9, 2019)

I don't know how I didn't think of posting this one sooner.

The Mexican government organized public transmissions of Dragon Ball Super episode 130 (Goku VS  Jiren) even though Toei Animations asked them to stop. The government held the transmissions on public parks and football stadiums, they even had fighting game tournaments, manga reading clubs and cosplaying contests. 
Here are some promos for the event.


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## quoting_mungo (Mar 9, 2019)

Rimna said:


> During the first sunday of the new year, we have festivals where people dress up in these huge stinky fur costumes and dance:


Aww, they're like conehead wookies!

Sweden has a pastry colloquially known as a vacuum cleaner. They happen to be one of my boyfriend's favorites, so I'd buy him stupid amounts of them when he still lived overseas and I was coming to visit. Leading to much hilarity when he texted his mom that "Alex brought me 36 vacuum cleaners."

It's also currently semla season here, and so help me god I am going to eat the damn things every Saturday until flipping Easter. (It's a seasonal pastry, typically only sold between some-time-after-Christmas and Easter, with a bit of squish on either end of that time frame. They're basically a white bread roll with almond paste, whipped cream, and powdered sugar, though that hardly seems like a complete description of how freaking awesome they are.)


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## Captain TrashPanda (Mar 9, 2019)

My hometown of Huntsville has the only full Space Shuttle stack and the only replica of the Saturn V moon rocket


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## Anon Raccoon (Mar 9, 2019)

In the United States faking hate crimes is a great way to get attention If you can get away with it.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

@Anon Raccoon Do you _have_ to ruin a perfectly nice thread with your political posting? ._.



Curiosity about my country: Marmite is better than Vegemite. Sorry Australians.


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## Anon Raccoon (Mar 10, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> @Anon Raccoon Do you _have_ to ruin a perfectly nice thread with your political posting? ._.
> 
> 
> 
> Curiosity about my country: Marmite is better than Vegemite. Sorry Australians.



It's just something i find very curious about America (;


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## dragon-in-sight (Mar 10, 2019)

-Bavaria is not an own Country. It is one of Germanys southern Federal States.

-Wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl is also a purely regional tradition from Bavaria. And only worn during folklore events. Besides That most Germans walk around in casual core wear.

-Sauerkraut isn't such a big Deal in german cuisine. The real heart of German kitchen is the potato.

-Berlin wasn't always the capital of Germany. Between 1949 and 2000 The government resided in the City of Bonn.

-The Overwatch map Eichenwalde was inspired by the City of Rotenburg








ConorHyena said:


> Actually, gay marriage was legalized in october 2017 in germany o:



No in 2017 Gay marriage has been made statutory equal to the traditional matrimony. But the same-sex union was legal all along since 2001.


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## Guifrog (Mar 10, 2019)

1. A Brazilian does not ‘give up’ or ‘retire’, he ‘hangs his football boots’. (Pendurar as chuteiras)

2. A Brazilian does not ‘talk about meaningless issues in details’, he ‘fills spicy pork sausages’. (Encher linguiça)

3. A Brazilian does not ‘show off’, he ‘puts a watermelon on his head’. (Colocar a melancia na cabeça)

4. A Brazilian does not ‘let his hair down’, he ‘releases the chicken’. (Soltar a franga)

5. A Brazilian will not tell you to ‘get lost’, he will tell you to ‘pick coconuts’ (Catar coquinho). Or if he really wants you to piss off, he will ask you to ‘pick coconuts on a slope’ (Catar coquinho na ladeira).

---

Just found a compilation of expressions and thought I'd show the ones I personally know and/or use. I mean, I've never seen those being said in English so.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Mar 10, 2019)

Where I'm from, commuting is like a motorsport, everyone fights for pole position.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

dragon-in-sight said:


> -Sauerkraut isn't such a big Deal in german cuisine. The real heart of German kitchen is the potato.
> .


It's interesting how so much of Europe's food is based around a South American root vegetable. x3


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## ConorHyena (Mar 10, 2019)

There is no easier way to offending a german than to refuse a handshake. They take that rather badly. 

I've become so assimilated that I'm guilty on this too.


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## TR273 (Mar 10, 2019)

ConorHyena said:


> There is no easier way to offending a german than to refuse a handshake. They take that rather badly.
> 
> I've become so assimilated that I'm guilty on this too.


Thanks for the tip.


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## Minerva_Minx (Mar 10, 2019)

Welcome to Middleton Wisconsin.

We have an International Mustard Museum.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Mar 10, 2019)

Fuck I love this country.

www.buzzfeed.com: So, New Zealand Has A Government-Appointed Wizard


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## TR273 (Mar 10, 2019)

It is illegal for an MP to enter the House Of Commons in a full suit of armour.


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## Deleted member 82554 (Mar 10, 2019)

I heard it's illegal to cross the Mexican border with a duck on your head.


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## Minerva_Minx (Mar 10, 2019)

Because, you know, Wisconsin:

State statute 97.18(4)

(4) The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer.


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## Prostapheresys (Mar 10, 2019)

Here in Livorno, Tuscany, there's an interesting dialect idiom that actually comes from English language.

During World War II the American forces occupied the city for quite some time after a series of bombing attacks and eventually eliminating the nazi/fascist troops of the area. 
In that time period the Americans had to control the city and story goes that apparently to sedate any fight from the local citizens they would often command to get _"*around the man*"_ and proceed to beat him up until he had enough.

To this day, when someone gets beaten up for good, in Livorno you can say that he got _"botte *arondemà*" , _where the second word is the italianization of_ "around the man"_


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## Minerva_Minx (Mar 10, 2019)

There are places in Italy where you can press your own olives for fresh oil or go barefoot and crush grapes for wine


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## Jackpot Raccuki (Mar 10, 2019)

ConorHyena said:


> There is no easier way to offending a german than to refuse a handshake. They take that rather badly.
> 
> I've become so assimilated that I'm guilty on this too.


I'm going to make you offer a handshake and then pretend to go for it but then pull back and make an L on my forehead at you just to see you scream at me in german.


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## Infrarednexus (Mar 10, 2019)

America is home to the worlds highest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. It stands at 45 stories tall and reaches speeds of up to 126 mph.


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

Minerva_Minx said:


> Because, you know, Wisconsin:
> 
> State statute 97.18(4)
> 
> (4) The serving of colored oleomargarine or margarine at a public eating place as a substitute for table butter is prohibited unless it is ordered by the customer.



This comes as a great relief!

Oh, and here in Baltimore, MD, the product, "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" was invented.


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Mar 10, 2019)

Vitaly said:


> 3. There is a Jewish state, but without Jews


That probably begs clarification?


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## MosquitoBeest (Mar 10, 2019)

Infrarednexus said:


> America is home to the worlds highest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. It stands at 45 stories tall and reaches speeds of up to 126 mph.


My home state of New Jersey! I was so happy when we took that title from Cedar Point in Ohio (still love that park though). I live in Pennsylvania now, but I immediately got a sticker to put on my car that says "born and raised" on a silhouette of NJ. Can take the girl out of Jersey but can't take the Jersey out of the girl.


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## Guifrog (Mar 10, 2019)

Oh yeah, since carnival week has recently passed. In my city, there's this big rooster that raises every year with different themed designs and gathers millions (literally, according to the press) of people around it in the street:






Greet Your Majesty, the Rooster of Early Hours (Galo da Madrugada). The Guiness Book recognizes it as the biggest carnival parade in the world since 1995, and it features people in costumes, allegorical cars, diverse music and bands. On a more bitter side, there's also plenty of littering, urine and drunk partygoers. 

Once, I dressed as a hawaiian woman. It was cool, despite the long hair wig regularly coming to my face with the wind. Also one has to be prepared to be randomly sprayed with foam


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## Universe (Mar 10, 2019)

Infrarednexus said:


> America is home to the worlds highest roller coaster, Kingda Ka. It stands at 45 stories tall and reaches speeds of up to 126 mph.


I also lost my glasses on that ride they never found said glasses


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Mar 10, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> Oh yeah, since carnival week has recently passed. In my city, there's this big rooster that raises every year with different themed designs and gathers millions (literally, according to the press) of people around it in the street:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a big cock.


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## TR273 (Mar 10, 2019)

Misha Bordiga Zahradník said:


> That is a big cock.


I wasn't going to say anything...


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## Guifrog (Mar 10, 2019)

Misha Bordiga Zahradník said:


> That is a big cock.





TR273 said:


> I wasn't going to say anything...


You should check the sculptures all over the city. I'm a bit wary of posting them all but I don't know, I think one's enough to suffice.


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## Infrarednexus (Mar 10, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> Oh yeah, since carnival week has recently passed. In my city, there's this big rooster that raises every year with different themed designs and gathers millions (literally, according to the press) of people around it in the street:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is the coolest thing I have seen in weeks! I have to visit you in Brazil!


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## TR273 (Mar 10, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> You should check the sculptures all over the city. I'm a bit wary of posting them all but I don't know, I think one's enough to suffice.


And the less said about this London landmark the better....


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## CrookedCroc (Mar 10, 2019)

Tequila can only be considered legal if it was made in Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato and Nayarit. So, if you buy a Tequila that says "Made in China" you got bamboozled


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Mar 10, 2019)

CrookedCroc said:


> Tequila can only be considered legal if it was made in Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato and Nayarit. So, if you buy a Tequila that says "Made in China" you got bamboozled
> View attachment 56656


Technically if you drink Tequila you get bamboozled anyway.


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

TR273 said:


> And the less said about this London landmark the better....
> View attachment 56654



Oh, I've always loved seeing that building! I recall it from the opening credits of a UK show that took place in a fancy hotel.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

TR273 said:


> And the less said about this London landmark the better....
> View attachment 56654



If there was an earthquake in London would it be Jerkin' the Gherkin?


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## TR273 (Mar 10, 2019)

Simo said:


> Oh, I've always loved seeing that building! I recall it from the opening credits of a UK show that took place in a fancy hotel.


'The Apprentice' perhaps?


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

TR273 said:


> 'The Apprentice' perhaps?


 
Nope, but I looked it up: It was called Hotel Babylon, ran from 2006-2009. It's odd: I hardly watch any US TV shows, but there's quite a few from the UK that have lured me in, especially older comedies, from the 1970s, onwards...

Curious fact about Maryland:

Our official state sport is Jousting.


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

In Melbourne, we have a lake that turns pink every year due to algal bloom!


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

Ravofox said:


> In Melbourne, we have a lake that turns pink every year due to algal bloom!



Dinoflagellates?


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> Dinoflagellates?



That sounds like kinky Latin for 'Dinosaur Spanking'


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> Dinoflagellates?



Not sure, couldn't find the exact type, but it's a similar process at least.



Simo said:


> That sounds like kinky Latin for 'Dinosaur Spanking'



Lol, true!!


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

Ravofox said:


> Not sure, couldn't find the exact type, but it's a similar process at least.
> 
> 
> 
> Lol, true!!



OK, looked it up...I was kinda close:

"The *dinoflagellates* (Greek δῖνος dinos "whirling" and Latin flagellum "whip, scourge") are a classification subgroup of algae."

Geez, to think a whole mass of whirling, whipping, BAD algae!


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## SSJ3Mewtwo (Mar 10, 2019)

Anon Raccoon said:


> In the United States faking hate crimes is a great way to get attention If you can get away with it.



Because this is relatively minor, I am not going to issue a warning over this.

However, do not attempt to derail threads in this fashion again.  I will not give any further reminders about it.


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

There's supposedly a panther in the blue mountains, it's kind of our bigfoot


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## Simo (Mar 10, 2019)

When I was a kid, growing up on 240 mostly wooded acres in Wexford County, Michigan in a kinda spooky old farmhouse till age 12, I was always kind of scared of this story:

Michigan Dogman - Wikipedia

I can still swear there were times I can swear I saw a glimpse, in the fields, from the back woodpile...though, there was also this kinda crazy guy who would wander around and just pop in and visit, and know all these odd things about the old houses in the area: as in, how many stairs they had in each starway, what rooms had been like before they had been remodeled, what wall-paper was peeling upstairs it was kind of spooky. Sort of a hobo, but no relation to the dog-man....I think!


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## Tao (Mar 10, 2019)

In Alabama where I’m from, one of the worlds foremost ant experts lives! I don’t recall his actual name because everybody calls him Dr. Ant.


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

Vitaly said:


> Jewish Autonomous Oblast - Wikipedia



Well it has_ some_ Jews, but not many. 

My state of Victoria actually has a lot of dormant volcanoes sprinkled around, and most people don't realize.


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## Guifrog (Mar 10, 2019)

When I was a kid, there was this guy (not among us anymore) from my former home town that was able to remember every house phone number off the top of his head. I believe the population in that period was around the 40, 50 thousands or so. All we had to do was call his number and ask when we weren't certain of someone else's number.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

Ravofox said:


> There's supposedly a panther in the blue mountains, it's kind of our bigfoot



Like a cougar, or is it meant to be kind of magic?


Also, that volcano is beautiful.


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## ManicTherapsid (Mar 10, 2019)

Simo said:


> When I was a kid, growing up on 240 mostly wooded acres in Wexford County, Michigan in a kinda spooky old farmhouse till age 12, I was always kind of scared of this story:
> 
> Michigan Dogman - Wikipedia
> 
> I can still swear there were times I can swear I saw a glimpse, in the fields, from the back woodpile...though, there was also this kinda crazy guy who would wander around and just pop in and visit, and know all these odd things about the old houses in the area: as in, how many stairs they had in each starway, what rooms had been like before they had been remodeled, what wall-paper was peeling upstairs it was kind of spooky. Sort of a hobo, but no relation to the dog-man....I think!




I read about that in a Lynda Godfrey book, forget which one. Here in Wisconsin we have The Beast of Bray Road. 

Beast of Bray Road - Wikipedia


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> When I was a kid, there was this guy (not among us anymore) from my former home town that was able to remember every house phone number off the top of his head. I believe the population in that period was around the 40, 50 thousands or so. All we had to do was call his number and ask when we weren't certain of someone else's number.



Wow, that's amazing!!!!



Fallowfox said:


> Like a cougar, or is it meant to be kind of magic?
> 
> 
> Also, that volcano is beautiful.



Well most people who believe in it think it escaped from someone's collection or something, so yeah a normal cougar type thing. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are wilder, supernatural theories about it around.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 10, 2019)

Ravofox said:


> Wow, that's amazing!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Well most people who believe in it think it escaped from someone's collection or something, so yeah a normal cougar type thing. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are wilder, supernatural theories about it around.



Could it be a fursuiter? ;3


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## Ravofox (Mar 10, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> Could it be a fursuiter? ;3



Ooh, i'm taking this straight to the papers!! XD

Speaking of papers, in the NT the main newspaper is the_ NT News_, which is notorious for totally ridiculous headlines, like this: 





A lot of the others aren't very appropriate, lol


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## Mocha Bunny (Mar 10, 2019)

Here in Louisiana, snakes are not allowed within 200 yards of a Mardi Gras parade! Also, there is a specific law designated to punishing those that steal crawfish from others


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## Prostapheresys (Mar 11, 2019)

Also in Italy:
In the city of Viterbo every year on the 3rd of September the annual festivity of Saint Rose of Viterbo (patron of the city) takes place; the festivity involves 100 men known as _"facchini"_ [ = porters] who volunteer to carry on their shoulders a statue of Saint Rose mounted on top of an almost 30 meters tall structure that weighs approx. 5000 kg, which is called "_Macchina di Santa Rosa_".
The _Macchina _is transported this way through the city from a local church to the Saint Rose's Sanctuary.


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## Furrium (Mar 11, 2019)

Oh, I wrote about the city, not about the country, damn it. Although all know so much about Russia that even Russia itself does not know so much about itself.


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## CrookedCroc (Mar 11, 2019)

Mocha Bunny said:


> Here in Louisiana, snakes are not allowed within 200 yards of a Mardi Gras parade! Also, there is a specific law designated to punishing those that steal crawfish from others


How do they keep the snakes away from the parade tho? Do they send them to snake jail?


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## Mocha Bunny (Mar 11, 2019)

CrookedCroc said:


> How do they keep the snakes away from the parade tho? Do they send them to snake jail?


I have no clue tbh lol! Maybe they do have a snake jail, I wouldn't put it past the people here


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 12, 2019)

Now I know the stereotype about Greece and business XD But a really interesting aspect culturally is business in Greece. Especially in the North. Greeks, before discussing business or making any deal will often like to treat you to a coffee one afternoon to discuss simple things like family, friends and life. Later they'll probably take you for a dinner with lots of different food and many drinks! This is mostly because they want to get to know who you are and build trust before doing business.


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## Sarachaga (Mar 12, 2019)

So I used to live in Mayotte, which is a French island and when my parents got there in 1999, one of the first high school in the southern part of the island was opened. It’s kinda crazy because the first students they had were older or as old as them. Anyways, as it’s an island located between Madagascar and Africa, it has influences from all over. One of the particularly interesting traditions (which actually originates from Madagascar) that I had the chance to witness was a Tromba. So as I said, my parents had students that were pretty old. One of them was a tromba priestess. She invited us to a Tromba ceremony. A Tromba is basically a spirit cult where the participants summon the spirits of their ancestors to grant them wisdom. What’s particularly bonkers with this ceremony is that the priestess downed a bottle of rum to prove that she was possessed by the spirits.
That was your daily piece of random trivia lol


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 12, 2019)

Sarachaga said:


> So I used to live in Mayotte, which is a French island and when my parents got there in 1999, one of the first high school in the southern part of the island was opened. It’s kinda crazy because the first students they had were older or as old as them. Anyways, as it’s an island located between Madagascar and Africa, it has influences from all over. One of the particularly interesting traditions (which actually originates from Madagascar) that I had the chance to witness was a Tromba. So as I said, my parents had students that were pretty old. One of them was a tromba priestess. She invited us to a Tromba ceremony. A Tromba is basically a spirit cult where the participants summon the spirits of their ancestors to grant them wisdom. What’s particularly bonkers with this ceremony is that the priestess downed a bottle of rum to prove that she was possessed by the spirits.
> That was your daily piece of random trivia lol


Damn. What an interesting part of the world. Where would you say the majority of influences are from culturally?

And yeah if I downed a bottle of rum I think I'd be possessed by the spirits as well XD


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## Sarachaga (Mar 12, 2019)

insertgenericnamehere1 said:


> Damn. What an interesting part of the world. Where would you say the majority of influences are from culturally?
> 
> And yeah if I downed a bottle of rum I think I'd be possessed by the spirits as well XD


Besides from the Malagasiinfluence, there was a strong Muslim influence, the village I lived in was very very religious. 
There's actually two languages there apart from French: shimaore and shibushi (can’t remember how this one is spelled properly)
Shimaroe has Swahili roots and Shibushi is close to Malagasi.


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## Fallowfox (Mar 12, 2019)

Sarachaga said:


> So I used to live in Mayotte, which is a French island and when my parents got there in 1999, one of the first high school in the southern part of the island was opened. It’s kinda crazy because the first students they had were older or as old as them. Anyways, as it’s an island located between Madagascar and Africa, it has influences from all over. One of the particularly interesting traditions (which actually originates from Madagascar) that I had the chance to witness was a Tromba. So as I said, my parents had students that were pretty old. One of them was a tromba priestess. She invited us to a Tromba ceremony. A Tromba is basically a spirit cult where the participants summon the spirits of their ancestors to grant them wisdom. What’s particularly bonkers with this ceremony is that the priestess *downed a bottle of rum to prove that she was possessed by the spirits.*
> That was your daily piece of random trivia lol



I'm sure there's a joke about alcoholic spirits in there somewhere.


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## Casey Fluffbat (Mar 12, 2019)

I may be a Florida man now, but I originated in Pennsylvania in the heart of Amish country. Locally a dialect of German is pretty common to hear. Even if you grew up there and didn't speak it (like me, I was one of the odd ones out :/ ), chances are you learn a lot of phrases.


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## Casey Fluffbat (Mar 12, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> You're next, Mongolia.


I like how Britain is also blue, just in case we wouldn't know!


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## Misha Bordiga Zahradník (Mar 13, 2019)

The ATF in general;


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## Guifrog (Mar 14, 2019)

I heard our habit of sharing food looks/sounds disgusting to some people abroad, as in letting other people take a portion of my lunch and/or drink. Anyone confirms?


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## Fallowfox (Mar 14, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> I heard our habit of sharing food looks/sounds disgusting to some people abroad, as in letting other people take a portion of my lunch and/or drink. Anyone confirms?



Depends if you're drinking from the same cup I suppose.


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## Guifrog (Mar 14, 2019)

Fallowfox said:


> Depends if you're drinking from the same cup I suppose.


Same cup, sometimes same fork


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## Bink (Mar 14, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> Same cup, sometimes same fork


Bleh, didn’t even like to share with my ex lol! Keep your paws away from my plate, my fork is a deadly weapon x3.


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## insertgenericnamehere1 (Mar 14, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> I heard our habit of sharing food looks/sounds disgusting to some people abroad, as in letting other people take a portion of my lunch and/or drink. Anyone confirms?


What!? Sharing's the best way to enjoy a meal. Always get many dishes and drinks to enjoy with many people! That's what makes dining fun! =p


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## Fallowfox (Mar 14, 2019)

Guifrog said:


> Same cup, sometimes same fork


But germs. D:


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## MissNook (Mar 14, 2019)

I don't mind sharing foods and forks and cups, but if the other one is sneezing and coughing, I pass XD 
Thinking about it, we always share a bottle with my friends, and no one cares about drinking straight from the bottle one after another.


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## Fcomega121 (Mar 26, 2021)

Fallowfox said:


> But germs. D:


You know!
2020 gave them the reason


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## Deleted member 134556 (Mar 26, 2021)

Normally I would be against necroing threads, but because Guifrog made this one, and because it's so wholesome, I consider this a blessing


The state of Arkansas where I live, is the birthplace of Walmart, which is a superstore present throughout the US famous for selling....just about everything you can think of.


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## Guifrog (Mar 26, 2021)

Fcomega121 said:


> You know!
> 2020 gave them the reason





Nexus Cabler said:


> Normally I would be against necroing threads, but because Guifrog made this one, and because it's so wholesome, I consider this a blessing


Bless your heart fellas, ah have no problem wit' tha- oh wait, that's the wrong "country"

Back to basics: we still have public telephones, but they're rarely used. They normally kinda resemble a giant ear, which gives them the popular name - "orelhão" ("big ear" in Portuguese):







But they may have some other interesting designs. In the city of Aracaju, for instance, they may look like the cashew fruit:





There's also macaws:


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## Fcomega121 (Mar 26, 2021)

Guifrog said:


> Bless your heart fellas, ah have no problem wit' tha- oh wait, that's the wrong "country"
> 
> Back to basics: we still have public telephones, but they're rarely used. They normally kinda resemble a giant ear, which gives them the popular name - "orelhão" ("big ear" in Portuguese):
> 
> ...


Aaaa macaws!! <3
I love these designs!
And people look like ear hyssops! lol



I dunno if someone said this on the thread, but the name of my country México, means "the place in the moon's bellybutton" or something like that it comes from Nahuatl "metzi" mening moon, "xictli"  "bellybutton or center" and "co" is the nahuatl suffix for place.

And in spain we have a lot of language rich culture!
Including one mysterious language that isn't related to any other actual living language! The euskera or basque!


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## Deleted member 134556 (Mar 27, 2021)

In Missouri , there is a enormous attraction in the capital called "The city museum" which is a museum whose exhibits consist largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building.

There is an enormous outside playground, an indoor skatepark, and a 10 story slide that leads from the top floor to the bottom.


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## Netanye Dakabi (Mar 30, 2021)

We have nukes we're not supposed to have but every politition on the planet knows we have them and just doesn't bother arguing about it because it's not worth it.


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## the sleepiest kitty (Mar 30, 2021)

The pizza slices here are so thin and wide, you can fold it in half. It's so good though. ♡


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## Netanye Dakabi (Mar 30, 2021)

MadKiyo said:


> I like how Britain is also blue, just in case we wouldn't know!


does this really count?
some of these countries are grey only because the land they're made of was part of a blue country at the time but then later they declared their independance


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## Fcomega121 (Apr 3, 2021)

Apparently on mexico they have a dish made with ant eggs!
(I'm a stranger to my country lol!)

Wikipedia:
_"Escamoles (Nahuatl languages: azcamolli, from azcatl 'ant' and molli 'puree'), known colloquially as Mexican caviar, are the edible larvae and pupae of ants of the species Liometopum apiculatum and L. occidentale var. luctuosum."_
/
Madrid's name comes from a Celtic origin (Madrid < * Magetoritum; with the root "-ritu" meaning "ford"). From the *Arabic maǧrà (meaning "water stream") *(the one I knew). 
A Mozarabic variant of the Latin matrix, matricis (also meaning "water stream").

*The more you know! Meme*


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## KimberVaile (Apr 3, 2021)

My state inspired a very popular Twitter account.


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## Kuroserama (Apr 3, 2021)

Neat thread! 

So when I lived in Texas, there is a very popular breakfast item called Kolaches that came from Czech immigrants. It's a sweet dough filled usually with fruit preserves, but also can have meats, like little sausages (similar to pigs in a blanket). Now that I live across the country in North Carolina, no one knows what a kolache is. Also, out here in North Carolina, they have boiled peanuts, which is a fascinating thing. You can usually find a hot vat of boiling peanuts (shells on) in gas stations or little roadside stops and they serve them in cups.

I love how things can be so different even in the same country.


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## Marius Merganser (Apr 5, 2021)

I live in New Jersey and if you include the pharmaceuticals industry, NJ is the largest producer of chemicals in the country. If you don’t believe me, just test our drinking water.


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## Furrium (Apr 6, 2021)

It was snowing in St. Petersburg in the morning.


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## Stray Cat Terry (Apr 6, 2021)

When you decide to place yourself for the job (celebrities, entertainers, etc), you can consider yourself a consumable, not a human--not only that you're being watched/stalked by millions 24/7, there are always new challengers who may potentially step on you and replace your career. Also, you make a mistake, the aftermath goes for eternity.
I know this is not alien for you all, but from what I have observed, Korea is overwhelming with this.

People don't remember those who weren't out there for quite a while, cuz people still got to see similar 'alternatives' and go on.


Spoiler



I have a friend who aimed for celebrity, he is very handsome and refined with much talents in the celebrity aspect, enough that it would not be alien to imagine him already running the stages.
So what? He didn't go well....



+
No matter what concept you and/or your group start with, you always end up being one with others--appealing sexiness and being flirty.


Spoiler



To be honest, it's better for him to quit that career and do anything else like now thinking of this...



Welcome to the country of K-pop! Ha!
(Well, I'm glad BTS could succeed and go grand while not choosing to be stereotypes, it's a wonder for me that they could be grand without being stereotypical, as well.)


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## Guifrog (Apr 8, 2021)

According to Spotify, the most popular music genre in Brazil is Sertanejo (a.k.a. Brazilian Country Music), based on data from 2020. Not samba (which sits in the 7th place).

Here's what's currently trending:


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## Netanye Dakabi (Apr 13, 2021)

Every time England uses the phrase "British" soldiers in wars only England was involved in.

Ahem.

Don't rope us into your dodgy stuff England.


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## Guifrog (Dec 18, 2021)

Had this quick exchange with a fellow fur, and it got me curious to learn about the payment card systems in other countries

In Brazil, we have debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards. Debit relies on your current available funds at your bank account, credit relies on credit lenders like Visa and MasterCard being repaid from your personal funds, prepaid relies on the amount you pay in advance to recharge it for your purchases

The more recent digital banks also offer account cards that basically work as debit cards, but you can use them to purchase things by choosing the "credit" option instead. This makes them usable for virtually any stores and service providers nationally and internationally, although you can't pay with installments, and again the money comes directly from your current funds

I wonder if this is common out there, and what other interesting systems may exist


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## Minerva_Minx (Dec 18, 2021)

Bitcoin card.  I am mixed on it, but supposedly good for traveling.  We have a few bitcoin machines here in town, but it's almost novelty.


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## Nexus Cabler (Dec 18, 2021)

We have a large variety of beautiful caverns to visit and explore

Mammoth Cave: Kentucky





Meramec caverns: Missouri 






Carlsbad Caverns: New Mexico 






Ruby Falls: Tennessee


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## Rimna (Dec 18, 2021)

Guifrog said:


> Had this quick exchange with a fellow fur, and it got me curious to learn about the payment card systems in other countries
> 
> In Brazil, we have debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards. Debit relies on your current available funds at your bank account, credit relies on credit lenders like Visa and MasterCard being repaid from your personal funds, prepaid relies on the amount you pay in advance to recharge it for your purchases
> 
> ...



I know only about debit and credit cards, and I've been very tempted to get a credit card but holy shit the interest rate is stupidly high for me - 19%
But then, the bank I am a client of will soon be merging with one of the other biggest banks in the country, so maybe they'll have a decent offer?

I don't know. Bank interest rates in Europe, and in specifically my country, are way too ridiculous.


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## TR273 (Dec 18, 2021)

Rimna said:


> I know only about debit and credit cards, and I've been very tempted to get a credit card but holy shit the interest rate is stupidly high for me - 19%
> But then, the bank I am a client of will soon be merging with one of the other biggest banks in the country, so maybe they'll have a decent offer?
> 
> I don't know. Bank interest rates in Europe, and in specifically my country, are way too ridiculous.


Only 19%?
I have a horrible feeling mine is something like 27% or higher.


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## Fallowfox (Dec 19, 2021)

TR273 said:


> Only 19%?
> I have a horrible feeling mine is something like 27% or higher.



Are these rates for payments that aren't made back within a specific time-frame?


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## TR273 (Dec 19, 2021)

Fallowfox said:


> Are these rates for payments that aren't made back within a specific time-frame?


Pretty much yes.


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## Casey Fluffbat (Dec 20, 2021)

I love the U.S. for it's natural curiosities, but I'll focus on my own state, Florida.

Florida is the only known place where crocodiles and alligators naturally exist in the same habitat, which is mainly around the coastal everglades where the swamps fade off into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.







Despite being known for it's subtropical and tropical climate and coastlines, Florida is home to vast plains in the interior of the state that many farmers call home. While a far cry from the pleasant fields in say, the great plains due to lots of sharp brush and palmettos along with marshes, it's still a considerably large part of the state.






A final little addition, the peninsula that Florida is situated on is a fairly shallow ridge, with a massive layer of sandy, seashell-filled substrate covering much of the state. This makes it on average the flattest, and lowest elevation state in the U.S., with the highest natural point being only 345 feet in elevation, located at the northern edge of the state.


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## Fallowfox (Dec 27, 2021)

@MadKiyo Florida looks like the illustrated fantasy land that dinosaurs inhabit in illustrated encyclopaedias.


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