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

"are there no Jewish people in the glorious UK"

Of course there are Jewish people in the UK. I could probably name two or three dozen of them off the top of my head.

What's odd is that I'm able to do so, and tell you details of things about their culture like bar mitzvahs, sitting shiva, their preferences for the mutilation of the genitals of defenceless infants, and what foods their imaginary friend doesn't like them to eat, despite their tiny numbers as a proportion of the population. There are more people in Burkina Faso than there are Jews in all the world, and I'm generally surprised if people can tell me off the top of their heads ANYTHING about Burkina Faso.

In the 2001 census, British Jews were outnumbered three to two by *Jedi*. The entire Jewish population of the UK is lower than the population of Preston. And like the US, they are ludicrously disproportionately concentrated in just a couple of places - certain parts of London and north Manchester for instance - which means their already tiny, tiny numbers in the population seem even lower, because unless you live in or near one of those areas your chances of encountering them in daily life are close to nil.

As I was browsing the aisles of a grocery store yesterday, I saw a few Asian food products (teriyaki and soy sauces, for example) aimed at kosher shoppers from a brand humorously named "Soy Vey".

I actually giggled aloud.

When I lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, I was aware that there was a fairly large Jewish population there. I was told that Chinese food was very popular there. There were Chinese restaurants that featured kosher food.

"(I recently did learn that those restroom stall door gaps are considered a "feature, not a flaw" by the designers, I suppose to eliminate the need for those awkward knocks and responses.)"

You know what else eliminates the need for awkward knocks and responses? Door locks that indicate clearly to someone outside the door that the door is locked. It's an incredibly simple mechanism, there are a multitude of possible designs, and it's immediately obvious to anyone that THIS stall is currently in use but THAT one is vacant.

It's SO weird, it's like USAians are living in some kind of police-state dystopia but they're so inured to it they don't even notice.

Presumably if the stalls require knocks & responses, they're so small that you can easily reach the door while seated - assuming your hands aren't busy with one's needs... just doesn't sound fit for purpose.

I was in a UK toilet once where I discovered the door didn't lock properly when someone tried to come in - pretty hard to reach the door from seated.

Computers can control aircraft in flight, I'm sure they can handle the much simpler engineering challenges of changing a car's gearbox.

The absolute worse toilet stall I ever encountered was at a campgrounds. Not only did the stall doors have the typical gap above the floor, they were also only about 2 feet tall above the gap. I assume the campground owners were frustrated by kids vandalizing the toilets, but wow! talk about feeling on display.

I didn't think that was the case these days - even more so on a long trip cruising at a steady speed. Fuel consumption is more about the way you drive (sweeping statement alert) - strikes me it's the 'boy racer' drivers who like their gears who strive to overtake at every opportunity then have to brake sharply behind the car in front, or to make a turn etc who are consuming more fuel, compared with a careful automatic car driver.

Most fuel consumption is caused by the weight of the common right foot.

Automatic gearbox computers are only as good as the engineer who programmed it, and the hardware it is working with.

" Door locks that indicate clearly to someone outside the door that the door is locked." [Hoovooloo]

There are many rest rooms in the U.S. that have "VACANT" or"OCCUPIED" signs. These are especially common in clinics. There's a church bathroom that has a light that goes on when someone is using it.

As for dystopias, the one that scared me the most was the one in "1984," which was not set in the U.S. Granted, it was a fictional setting from long ago....

It's fairly easy for me to see what things are like in my country. It's harder for people thousands of miles away to do this.

The "police state dystopia" I live in was at one time so determined to be freed from kings and queens and dukes that it eschewed the lot of them. It also turned thumbs down on state-sponsored churches. Do I ever feel sorry for people who live in places that have aristocrats and state religions? Well, no. I trust in their good sense. If these aspects of their life bother them enough, chances are they will relocate to some place that ism ore to their liking. If not, I expect them to be mature enough to look at their situations and figure out which battles they want to fight.

If you're happy where you are, I'm happy for you. really.

"The "police state dystopia" I live in was at one time so determined to be freed from kings and queens and dukes that it eschewed the lot of them"

Well... not exactly. It stopped *calling* them kings and queens and dukes, and they chucked out one crop, is all. But if you think the USA doesn't have a functioning aristocracy, that only goes to show how well they've duped you.

Do I detect circular reasoning here? If I argue that I'm not duped, will you take my arguments as further proof that I *am* duped? No, I'm not still beating my wife.

I live in a left-leaning state. A lot of people seem to want to move here from other places, so I take that as a sign that we are doing something right. Another interpretation is that the incoming are lemmings. See, I can hold two conflicting views in my head at the same time.

The thing is, any state can have referenda on various issues. A national referendum like the Brexit one is not in the cards. I'm glad we can't have national refernda.

The systems are different. The judicial systems of the two countries have some differences. Certainly not having a Parliamentary system makes a difference, as our divided-party gridlock suggests.

Aristocrats can be quite poor, at least the ones in Britain. If the U.S. has the equivalent of aristocrats, they would lose their clout when they lost their fortunes. The money is what gives them much of their power. But if they had aristocratic titles, those titles would still count for something.

"If I argue that I'm not duped, will you take my arguments as further proof that I *am* duped?"

If that's all you've got as an argument - yes.

It's difficult to interpret, but your counter-argument seems to be "we don't have an aristocracy because if you lose your wealth you're ejected". To which I'd say functionally that's equivalent to aristos everywhere. They've a somewhat different definition of "poor", too, and generally considerably more resources for recovery from that state than the average peasant. Not least, their connections to other aristos arising from their education and background. And that applies as effectively in the US as an in any European aristocracy.

Tell how, for example, the Winkle-Voss twins are NOT functionally aristocrats.

The USA is really a functioning plutocracy I'd say, which seeing as they based their entire constitution of that of the Roman Republic means it's still functioning quite as they envisioned. Currently the ruling party is that of the Optimates... perhaps one day you'll get back to the Populares . I suppose Trump is not quite so bad as Sulla... yet

I never have only one argument, Hoo.

There's more to life than arguing, though.

Then again, I might find that you disagree with that thought.

Checking in..Been a very quiet December for me..Seems January is going to be a lot more exciting globally. Not sure about locally.Going to have to work on the new excess weight.


Hope that everyone else will be having a better year in 2020.Maybe we can have a better decade.

That seems like a good idea. I hope it will be better, current world politics still need to be calibrated for that though.

I'm hopeful but not optimistic, but feel fortunate that personally I'm unlikely to be much affected.

If a butterfly flaps its wings in the Sahel, a hurricane might wreak destruction along the U.S. East coast and then blow down a tree in Western Ireland. Or not. Who knows? An Archduke was killed in Bosnia, and a world war developed.

Maybe the squirrels in the oak across the street from me will mutate into something scary?

We might just as well attain world peace by farting in the back yard. (Unless your neighbours are present, in which case the effect might be opposite)