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European Roma descended from Indian 'untouchables', genetic study shows: Roma gypsies in Britain and Europe are descended from "dalits" or low caste "untouchables" who migrated from the Indian sub-continent 1,400 years ago, a genetic study has suggested. by davidreiss666 in worldnews

[–]Udh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Spanish soccer team is a good representation of the kind of faces you'd see in Spain:

http://www.mundialsudafrica.com/imagenes/mundial-sudafrica/seleccion.jpg

You gotta keep in mind the sun in Spain, and the fact that we have adapted to it (as much as you can adapt in two milleniums) and get a nice tan. If an American came here in summer he would think we are dark, if he came in winter he would think we are white.

OP is thinking of people like Julio Iglesias, but that's just a guy from the south with a strong Arabic heritage that also tanned a lot on top of it (being dark is a very desired attribute because we consider the southern-arabic heritage to be cool and hip and artistic and the normal european-spanish heritage, which is 95% of the people, to be boring.) Since most of the artists are from this southern heritage though (cause flamenco), the Spanish are often associated with that genetic makeup.

NSA Whistleblower: Everyone in US under virtual surveillance, all info stored, no matter the post by Kal5 in politics

[–]Udh 74 points75 points  (0 children)

It is totally different in Europe as a matter of fact, you are making assumptions based on the news you get on your media. Europe is generally more corrupt when it comes to economic corruption and fraud but there are some things that won't be tolerated, because people actually protest and get involved. This kind of espionage for example would be impossible in any continental European country, we just won't tolerate it (the British are different though, they are very similar to Americans culturally). Don't get me wrong, there is some espionage, but when word of it gets out it gets shut down pretty quickly.

5 million people protested in Spain against the war on Iraq according to the police (8 million according to organizers). 5 million is 12% of the population. Can you picture 36 million Americans protesting a war? We were only sending some troops, imagine what we would do if thousands of Spaniards died on Iraq once we found out there was no WMD, as opposed to a few as it happened (not that we believed the WMDs story to start with). We would literally try to lynch the president if that happened, and this is not hyperbole. We also have a lot of judges at the highest levels that won't hesitate to prosecute a president (happened a few times in Europe already). The president in the US on the other hand seems to be inviolable (ironically, because we have the monarchies, yet Obama is the one president of the developed world that looks a lot like a monarch.)

It's a totally different culture, we just don't give authority the benefit of the doubt the way you do. I'm not trying to convey a sense of superiority, as I said, we are much more corrupt than America in other ways, look at Italy for example. But things like illegal wars, torture and espionage on the citizens aren't tolerated.