NO AMERICAN FLAGS! - Page 3 - Horizons Unlimited

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NO AMERICAN FLAGS!

Travellers' Advisories, Safety and Security on the Road Recent News, political or military events, which may affect trip plans or routes. Personal and vehicle security, tips and questions.

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GlobalGS NO AMERICAN FLAGS! 15 Jan 2005, 20:39

mmaarten I guess it,s also not wise to wave a red flag in front of a bull..... even if... 15 Jan 2005, 22:56

Margus The Bush dictation in US has been very unpopular indeed. Sadly, he's the boss... 16 Jan 2005, 01:09

Mr. Ron Hello. I certainly don't want to ruffle any feathers here, this is a very... 16 Jan 2005, 03:17

liketoride2 Dumb question, but are there such things as international license plates? Or... 16 Jan 2005, 03:20

A.B. I don't think the resentment towards the US is due to its environmental... 16 Jan 2005, 03:36

JamesCo It doesn't matter what the license plate says - the biggest sticker tells... 16 Jan 2005, 03:40

mattpope Have to say I find the response typical of the narrow minded mentality of many... 16 Jan 2005, 04:27

beddhist Displaying the flag of what has arguably become the most hated country in the... 16 Jan 2005, 04:32

MCP Sorry to hear about your treatment in Europe, thats really unfortunate &... 16 Jan 2005, 05:44

simmo Sorry to hear about your experiences. They are much like the experiences of... 16 Jan 2005, 10:28

carloscarlos Have any Aussie travellers had problems? I'm interested to know if any... 16 Jan 2005, 11:33

seanh A man is not a country. I would say that most locals I have met travelling,... 16 Jan 2005, 15:14

chris I agree with Sean. Why wave a flag at all? An interesting (or not)... 16 Jan 2005, 23:49

ash_d Or...you could just tell everyone you nicked the bike off a yank...instant... 17 Jan 2005, 07:37

simmo Carlos carlos "Have any Aussie travellers had problems? I'm interested to... 17 Jan 2005, 11:07

pietro.spera I simply don’t understand why somebody needs to exhibit a large American flag... 17 Jan 2005, 14:28

braindead As a Brit married to an American I am torn between the politics of the current... 17 Jan 2005, 18:48

BklynDakar Boy, I go away for one weekend and look at this thread. I have an American... 17 Jan 2005, 20:40

nobby Unfortunately people will see a flag of a country and associate it’s political... 17 Jan 2005, 21:48

GlobalGS I didn't mean that you have to LIE about being from Canada. Canada was just a... 18 Jan 2005, 00:19

carloscarlos I QUOTE: "I didnt have an Australian flag on the bike because ...I find it... 18 Jan 2005, 02:35

SKILLO "I like the idea of the clip on koalas. Cheap, small and light to carry,... 18 Jan 2005, 05:17

GlobalGS Maybe I'll give away little miniature George Bushes...that clip on to your... 18 Jan 2005, 06:35

DaveSmith I've gotten a little flack for being a Yanqui Running Dog in Australia but it's... 18 Jan 2005, 12:15

GlobalGS Pietro (from Italy), that didn't really make sense. Since it's the American... 18 Jan 2005, 16:47

niels ach... i'm riding a(probably stolen)japenese bike, with thai numberplates and... 18 Jan 2005, 19:58

GlobalGS I am driving with your flag on my bike. It is directly underneath my German... 18 Jan 2005, 20:02

beddhist Hi - it's Pete's other half Jenny here for a change. I'm also sorry to hear... 18 Jan 2005, 20:45

GlobalGS Wow, I didn't say bash everything about the US! Yes, our people are more... 18 Jan 2005, 21:17

beddhist Hi again, I didn't "bash everything about the US"... the above letter... 18 Jan 2005, 23:01

chris Please may I suggest that people stay on topic. The thread was about flags... 18 Jan 2005, 23:06

GlobalGS Mr. Moderator, I started this thread, and I was merely commenting on a post... 19 Jan 2005, 00:16

GlobalGS Chris, By the way, I checked out your website...COOL... Do you have any... 19 Jan 2005, 00:23

Susan Johnson Well, this has been an extremely interesting thread, and we thought we would... 19 Jan 2005, 02:51

slim161 Well I am going to just put a HUGE "I VOTED AGAINST BUSH" sticker right next to... 19 Jan 2005, 04:35

chris With ref to the question above about stickers on my bike. Only *Bridgestone... 19 Jan 2005, 05:13

GlobalGS This thread has been GREAT. To each of you who have posted...I think I've... 19 Jan 2005, 06:47

AndyT One of the things I like about Horizons is that the chatter about politics is... 19 Jan 2005, 09:51

carloscarlos Unfortunately there are uninformed biggots and misguided activists in all... 19 Jan 2005, 11:56

braindead As a veteran of the 1st Gulf War I whole heartedly condone this view. We... 19 Jan 2005, 15:08

pietro.spera I’m surprise of the reactions to my post... It’s likely my skill in English is... 19 Jan 2005, 15:48

canadianmike Whew! This is the busiest pub in town! I agree with Pietro that flags have... 19 Jan 2005, 16:51

beddhist I agree with most of what has been written here. However: > If leaders are... 19 Jan 2005, 18:15

BklynDakar This is a great thread, but I really think we should stay away from a purely... 19 Jan 2005, 19:22

GlobalGS LONDON (Reuters) - A majority of people surveyed in a global poll think the... 19 Jan 2005, 22:08

GlobalGS I couldn't resist posting that article I found a few minutes ago. ... 19 Jan 2005, 22:13

Grant Johnson GlobalGS, (just to keep this on bikes and bike travel) ... 20 Jan 2005, 02:48

Grant Johnson Re "ponder this, doesn't a discussion about political awareness BENEFIT those... 20 Jan 2005, 02:54

MCP When travelling Europe in 03, we rarely saw flags on bikes or cars, but most... 20 Jan 2005, 04:42

liketoride2 Grant, actually I was the one that asked about traveling without a US state... 20 Jan 2005, 06:09

Grant Johnson liketoride, sorry! You are likely to only find it where they do such things,... 20 Jan 2005, 06:39

beddhist Susan, you wrote that the letter i quoted was one-sided and that's true. The... 20 Jan 2005, 14:38

beddhist Lucky for you that you got away with it. For the record, German authorities... 20 Jan 2005, 16:17

nobby Hi all All though I do not have a sticker or a flag of my country.I do have... 21 Jan 2005, 13:30

Chris Scott Flags; what a great discussion, let it roam off topic once in a while as they... 21 Jan 2005, 14:38

Freek In the Netherlands you can't buy plates that easy. You have to show your... 21 Jan 2005, 18:14

Matt595 Hi, I find the different opinions on here interesting. Well described with... 22 Jan 2005, 13:24

DaveSmith I talked to a German who ordered food in Paris. He ordered in English because... 23 Jan 2005, 16:02

strikingviking Maybe I'm shallow but the purpose of my international traveling is to promote... 23 Jan 2005, 17:28

Dizzie Proud of my country.... Proud of my flag..... Proud of what? I really dont... 23 Jan 2005, 18:43

David and Cheryl Laing we just want to ride our bikes.....and smile and wave at people...... 23 Jan 2005, 18:50

Bobo Obviously, a nerve has been touched here. I wish this was the most appropriate... 24 Jan 2005, 08:58

strikingviking Appropriate handle there Dizzy. Remember the drill, engage brain before mouth.... 24 Jan 2005, 20:28

Dizzie Striking Viking... Ok, your comments where in place. Got perhaps a bit carried... 25 Jan 2005, 00:53

Matt595 What l think, is that you don't have to go to Afghanistan to find people who... 25 Jan 2005, 15:51

greynomads Don't apologise Dizzie - you are entitled to your views as much as anybody... 25 Jan 2005, 16:28

BklynDakar Yes, I just want to also say the line about being an ambassador was excellent... 25 Jan 2005, 19:53

Margus I think this is how we travellers should all see it. Not to get too emotional.... 25 Jan 2005, 21:31

goggstrotters if i had time and money i might read this but i´m not gonna waste my time in... 26 Jan 2005, 02:10

tomforde It seems I have stumbled on a web site full of insecure yanks! Please just ride... 26 Jan 2005, 08:52

AndyT Out of 70 posts on this thread, only 23 are from Americans. The American flag... 26 Jan 2005, 09:24

Grant Johnson Tomforde, careful please - remember we're trying not to get personal, but to... 26 Jan 2005, 09:59

MoroCycler Flags have been for a long time a symbol of division and in some cases of... 27 Jan 2005, 00:37

John Roberts Oh, come ON, hmoro, If Grant, Susan and the gang qualify as moto-weirdos, then... 27 Jan 2005, 03:31

MoroCycler John Roberts, maybe you missunderstood me. What you say is exactly what I... 27 Jan 2005, 06:47

Bill Ryder Travel thru montana, a US flag is normal but a flag from some other... 28 Jan 2005, 09:56

liketoride2 Several references have been made on this thread to the fact it is common in... 29 Jan 2005, 05:21

memphisslim It seems kind of funny everybody is pissed at the "yanks". We the "yanks" had... 29 Jan 2005, 05:23

MCP Starting to stray off the topic of flags, but... I think the U.S. had huge... 29 Jan 2005, 07:31

Panomphaean Free Accomodation for visitors. Just wanted to flag this up... 30 Jan 2005, 13:53

greenhorn old women in their 70's lining up to vote in front of graffitti signs reading... 30 Jan 2005, 23:33

beddhist Personally, I'm only "pissed" with your govt. You had 9/11, because your... 31 Jan 2005, 02:19

Erik D. There are a lot of interesting arguments on this thread. Some good, some bad... 31 Jan 2005, 02:23

Mr. Ron Well said Eric! The people who treated Global that way during his travells are... 31 Jan 2005, 03:58

beddhist I think Nelson Mandela has summed the whole situation up quite nicely: "It is... 31 Jan 2005, 16:16

Matt595 I must be honest, I´ve never liked politics. We bikers have, I think, real... 31 Jan 2005, 19:45

Dizzie I think flags do more bad than good no matter what country they come from. Its... 1 Feb 2005, 02:13

Robbert Just these: Did anyone notice that the vandalism was against the bike, not... 2 Feb 2005, 01:57

MoroCycler Just recalling the original Text: "and I got ran off the road (intentionally) "... 2 Feb 2005, 03:47

memphisslim One question what millions have we been killing? Who? When and Where? 2 Feb 2005, 05:27

Grant Johnson I hate to say this, but Last warning - Please keep this thread on point... 2 Feb 2005, 07:09

AZBill I hate to say I told you so, but I did. And many of you jumped on my case on... 2 Feb 2005, 10:23

John Ferris What oil should I use ? 2 Feb 2005, 10:26

Grant Johnson Would that be for high performance, or long change intervals, John? And on your... 2 Feb 2005, 10:58

Dizzie GlobalGS Started this topic with the following words....... "I don't want to... 2 Feb 2005, 19:24

BklynDakar Always use sunscreen. ------------------ Brooklyn Dakar... 2 Feb 2005, 19:34

Matt595 I think those putting pieces on the bike seat wouldn´t go further in violence,... 2 Feb 2005, 20:07

chris As far as getting run off the road is concerned, IMHO it has nothing to do with... 3 Feb 2005, 01:30

carloscarlos Two important things to remember: 1)you can't get pregnant (or get someone... 3 Feb 2005, 14:59

Matt595 Oh well, you can buy one of these instead: AMTechnology; ... 4 Feb 2005, 03:23

gjackson Interesting thread all. Some good tips. For our part we had 2 US reg... 6 Feb 2005, 10:34

BklynDakar The white flag needs to be raised for this thread. ------------------... 9 Feb 2005, 01:43

Susan Johnson Agreed - this thread is now closed. Thanks to all for the general spirit of... 9 Feb 2005, 01:57

15 Jan 2005

GlobalGS GlobalGS is offline

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Join Date: Jan 2005

Location: USA

Posts: 15

NO AMERICAN FLAGS!

I don't want to start a huge political rant, but having just returned from a ride in few countries (Hungary, Poland, England, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, Schweiz etc etc...) I ran into a problem. My bike got tipped over, kicked over, and I got ran off the road (intentionally) I came out of a pub once and there was animal FECES on my seat...and after a while I decided to try a theory of mine. I pulled my large AMERICAN FLAG sticker off of my Jesse Bags and put a CANADIAN FLAG (via internet purchase)on my bike and BAM, the violence and accidents ceased to exist! Not to mention I had much more pleasant conversations with locals at petrol stops. I have been riding for years in other countries, and I have NEVER had problems like this as a result of my nationality. NOW, I fear for my life in less advanced countries. I LOVE MY COUNTRY, but I DO NOT go around SPOUTING off about being AMERICAN and I am considering locating to CANADA in order to get different tags on my bike (passport etc....) I am much more careful about talking loud in cafes or pubs and I (as always) watch the way I dress (no American clothes etc). I hate to say this, but I fear that the current administration is alienating the rest of the world. We have more enemies now than ever before! It is sad. Has anyone else had these experiences? Is it me or is the American Flag a source of anger in an increasing number of countries?

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If you want to stay alive on your trip around the world, PUT CANADIAN STICKERS ON YOUR BIKE. IF you want to be jailed or abused, put an AMERICAN FLAG on your bike.

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If you want to stay alive on your trip around the world, PUT CANADIAN STICKERS ON YOUR BIKE. IF you want to be jailed or abused, put an AMERICAN FLAG on your bike.

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