h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have to point out thaw I was saying "aww go on " to empty. I wasn't trying to question your statement Della that you snuck in with.

Sadly the 'christian science project' links just take me to a spam site, since I would really like to see them. As far as the reactionary, bible-belt fundementalist Christians misrepresenting the 'majority' of Christians is concerned, I hate to say this but in the U.S. charismatic or fundementalist Christians are not only the largest single religious group in the United States but also the fastest growing. The United states has roughly double the church going population of any other western non-catholic nation and a much larger percentage of people who claim religion is 'very important' to them in their daily lives than any other western nation. Sorry I can't quote chapter and verse (pun intended) as to the source of these somewhat murky stats as they come from a variety of mostly non-net sources like census reports and magazine articles I've read over the past several years.
Decades ago, the science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlien predicted in his 'future history' that the USA would be a Christian fundementalist theocracy sometime around the turn of the 21st century. I don't think he was far off the mark.

"The United states has roughly double the church going population of any other western non-catholic nation"

Unimpressive.

US population 280 million
World 6,000 million

Europe alone out numbers the US in population and if my country is anything to go by you won't get any accurate stats on religion. In the last census here 33% of the country chose not to answer the religion question.

Does Bill Gates know this? He should be delighted... But wait, he's the AntiChrist, isn't he? No, sorry that's Henry Starling...

no no Bill Gates bank-rolls the antichrist.

The BSA is in there somewhere too

BSA? Aren't they something to do with British Motorbikes? If I am wrong, at me, go on...

no they pretend to measure software piracy.

And here I was thinking you were going to mistake it for the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

Could have! But what you meant by it makes a lot of sinister sense!

I was thinking you ment these guys... http://web.ukonline.co.uk/jsausage/sausappr.htm

Thanks for the creationism link - be a good Christian, use a PC! I'm an avid Mac user, so I guess I'm goin' to hell...

To answer somebody's question... where have all the Americans gone... There's a lot of us in America (46%, by last count) who don't support Bush, and are just waiting for the next election. The current foreign policy snafu means that there's a lot of negative comments about Americans on these threads - What's Wrong, Saddam/Bush, and the Iraq thread. Apart from voting for somebody else, there's not much I can do, and when I see people making nasty remarks about America on this thread, and many others, it puts me on the defensive. So I stay away. I can't get interested in a conversation that starts with the assumption that all Americans are arrogant.

What have I heard recently... let's see... With all the hoopla about terrorism keeping everybody busy, Bush is trying to sneak past the environmentalists and cut down more trees in the national forests (ostensibly, to prevent more forest fires, when the real problem is that we've been putting out fires for years instead of letting the undergrowth burn. Not to mention damming the Colorado, the major source of water for the western forests.) I haven't heard the latest on the Alaskan pipeline and drilling for oil, but I'm sure he's trying to get that going, too. (Then again, invading Iraq might have been a compromise with the environmentalists - 'fine, we can't have the oil in Alaska, so we'll go to Iraq.')

Commentary on Uday and Qusay from the Onion... it just about sums it up for me. Enjoy.
http://www.theonion.com/onion3929/wdyt_3929.html

"I can't get interested in a conversation that starts with the assumption that all Americans are arrogant."

Can we have an end to the falling on ones sword bit. Exaggerated use of the word "all" get's no one anywhere fast.

"US population 280 million
World 6,000 million"

Exactly. Everyone needs to remember that 95% of the world's population does not live in the USA. Americans need to learn it.

"when I see people making nasty remarks about America on this thread, and many others, it puts me on the defensive."

Why???? Lentilla, why do you feel you have to defnd your country's atrocities? Don't you see, that that's part of the problem not part of the solution?

Bush supporters are busy blindly and vociferously defending the indefensible. When Bush detractors start doing the same what hope is there for America?

Is that serious? Newsletters - Sizzlin', for junior members

Brilliant! Thanks for the link, Lentilla.

Hm... I don't feel like I need to defend what America has done. It's pretty obvious that it's horrible. What I do feel defensive about is the assumptions people make about all ('scuse me, Apparition!) Americans, because of our foreign policy decisions. They highlight the worst traits of American Republicans, which unfortunately bolsters the world view of Americans in general... (perhaps because the Republicans have been so active in world affairs, while Democrats try to fix things at home.)

It's quite a dilemna - there's no way I can atone for everything the U.S. has done, but I feel obligated to do so. So I haven't been as active in this thread as usual.

On a non-sequitur note, would anybody besides me have a use for an smiley?

eapons-way of ass-may estruction-day...

Lentilla, that is what has been wrong with all of these *What is wrong with XXX* threads. To use a generalisation, generalisations are a very bad thing. The vast majority (almost all, actuallly) of the US citizens I know are absolutely some of the best people on the planet. I see the big problem here in mislabelling. It should say *What is wrong with the government of the USA and some of the more obnoxious representatives who make a bad impression and are perceived to be a majority of the general population of said country, even though that is patently not true* but I don't think that would fit.

The only good thing about this thread is that there are people who realise that. People who qualify what they say. I am guilty of making some of those generalisations myself, but I hope I back up whatever I have said with some kind of logical argument or outside fact. Actually, another good thing is what I realised in the *What is wrong with Canadians* thread. The fact that people have an opinion means that at least something is happening out there. To be ignored would perhaps be a greater insult. Come on! The USA is in fact the strongest economic and political force on this little planet we get to ride on. If there were no complaints then we would have achieved some sort of Nirvana, heaven, call it what you will.

I for one am glad my country is not the most obvious receiver of *the barbs and arrows of outrageous fortune* not to mention the slings of researchers. But at the same time I am a little envious of y'all being the target.