British Expatriate Network

My mate in london sent me this story with the comment "what a twat" attached to it.

http//news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=510102006

A TRANSATLANTIC row has broken out after a Florida school band was forced to cancel a £150,000 trip to Britain because United States education officials feared the young musicians could be targeted by terrorists.

The 140-member marching band of Fort Myers High School was forced to turn down a prestigious invitation to take part in London's 2007 New Year's Day parade after school chiefs ruled it would be "safer in America".

Rejecting arguments from students and parents that Britain was no more dangerous than the US, Herb Wiseman, high school consultant for Lee County, Florida, said - referring to the tube London bombings last July - "It still doesn't explain what happens if kids get on a train that blows up. We don't have trains blowing up in America. We're leery of loading 140 students on to a plane and flying to London, where they just had a terrorist attack. We don't think it's worth the risk."

James Browder, Lee County's superintendent of schools, who was also involved in the decision, said Europe suffers "terrorist attacks on a regular basis".

Organisers of the London event - "the greatest annual street parade in Europe" - offered to fly him and Mr Wiseman over for a free fact-finding tour. But they turned down the invitation. "I don't have time to go there," Mr Wiseman said.



I think he's being a tad silly there.

I'm curious as to why so many Americans are scared of 'foreign.'

I wonder how many of those involved in the decision have actually been to London. I'm sure the many Americans living in the UK would be red-faced by this decision. Presumably, there is some legal risk attached that if any of these students were harmed while in the UK they would be blamed or sued.

I was amazed by the cautious nature of people at the resort I stayed in the Bahamas. We met a few Americans who were under the impression it was dangerous to leave the resort. However, this attitude is also visible in domestic travel. Another work colleague was vociferous that i only stay in the casinos when I went to Atlantic city (the rest of the city was too dangerous).

My view is that something awful can happen to anyone at anytime. Those poor victims of 9/11 and the London bombings were just like me. They just went to work in and never came home. Everyday life is full of risks and even crossing the street one day you might meet a tragic end just because someone was drunk (see JohnA's recent post).

It just seems that here in the US people take less risks about personal safety.
So the Florida kids miss out but i'm sure other US bands will step-up.

We don't have tall office buildings blowing up in the UK. I take it none of them have ever planned a trip to the top of the Sears tower, Empire State, etc...

And if I was the parent of a disappointed child I would start home schooling them, and tell the principal it is because I was worried there would be a shooting in the school (like Columbine). Maybe they'd get the point then.

Interesting as the Halle has turned down a trip here because of the time out of their productive schedule and the cost just to get visas

http//arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1742626,00.html

They didn't mind sending money to the IRA via NORAID when that was all the rage..... Regardless of the fact that the IRA bombs were indiscriminate about who they killed.

I read about this elsewhere. There was a journalist in the Gurandian stating that she needed a visa to visit the US and work there. It seems like it is becoming harder for cultural exchanges between US and other countries. Somethings up with this.

this country can go rot! do us all a favour , build a fuck off big wall and stay the hell out of everyone elses country
Oooh, that feels better )

My niece's school band marched in the New Years Day Parade, they were from San Jose, no mention of a terrorist threat was ever mentioned and they all had a great time.

Its a mental thing really americans feel safe ( mostly ) in the comfort of their home and the folks around them that they know . America is big and theses things usually happen to "somebody else " and remember if you say to a american you live in london he/she thinks you shouild know there auntie who lives leicester it so small to them that evey thing bad that happens is NEXT DOOR

and of course the rest of the world is full of * crazy foriegners *

crazy foriegners! try NJ,lol

What got me was the 150,000GBP it was allegedly going to cost them for the trip! where were they supposed to be staying - the Savoy?? 10,000 pounds a head!!!

I've taken musical groups, large and small, on tours abroad, and never ever had a bill this high.

140 people/ £150k is just over £1,000 a head. :oops:

Well, apart from that Canary Wharf thing.

/the natives here are feeble girliemen

Yeah,

Washington D.C too dangerous for foreingners. This is a total joke, this country has gone out of it's mind. evil I know Michael Moore is a controversial person, but on his movie Bowling for Columbine, he gives his opinion on why Americans are "freaked" when it comes to anything from abroad. In my point of view, some of it seems to make sense, the media plays a major role in terrorizing the populace, sometimes all this is driven by the government to justify it's actions against others.

This country has the president it deserves and if they don't want to get educated and learn about different cultures, it is their choice, please we don't need weasels visiting our beautiful city. I went to London 10 days ago and mate I miss every bit of it! cry

You can find insular hate-the-furriner types all over the world. Not all Murrikans are xenophobic bigots.