They like to set the speed of light to be 1. That is dimensionless 1. It makes their calculations simpler this way instead of dragging some power of c everywhere like a loosely connected trailer on a dirt road.
When i took a particle physics class we measured everything in energy (eV). In this case of measuring everything in seconds, acceration would be measured in units of 1/s
I don’t think they meant it as a slight against your homeland. You probably don’t think about my homeland either, and idk why someone in Iraq would be concerned about Louisiana