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November 29, 2006
Criticism of the U.S. equals treason
I've been told that this website is too rabidly pro-American, and there are certainly some contributors of the 'Love it or leave it" persuasion, but what they have to say is mild compared to The Futurist: Who Hates America?. I came across this when looking for a survey I was told about that had more Americans than Europeans doubting capitalism. I need to write to the very reputable person who told me about this to get a link, because I've just been led down too many rabbit holes in the search. Here's a little from this cuddly blogger:
In the US itself, 17% view their country negatively. I have claimed earlier that 8-10% of the US population comprises of active or semi-active fifth-columnists, who seek to undermine American strength and security, yet cannot bring themselves to openly admit this deeply held belief, nor move to another country. This survey appears to offer further evidence of this fifth column.
I didn't realize that to some, a project like this makes us "fifth columnists." Good grief, I didn't even know that term was still used. I associate it with Agatha Christie novels and Cold War spy thrillers.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 3:39 PM | Comments (1)
Plan for Mayfair
It isn't only in the United States that citizens are fed-up about the Iraq War. Here's a British jab, suggesting that an invasion of Mayfair, an expensive residential area of London, might be in order.
No one, it occurs to us, has yet seen fit to ask the most obvious question to arise from the death of Alexander Litvinenko, namely is there not an urgent and compelling case for military intervention in (at the very least) Piccadilly and Mayfair, given that substantially more nuclear material has now been found in the hotels, sushi bars and office buildings of central London than the combined efforts of the UN weapons inspectors and coalition forces managed to uncover in the whole of Iraq? Just a thought.
Diary, by Jon Henley, Tuesday November 28, 2006, in The Guardian.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 3:08 AM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2006
Is this U.S.-centric or not?
I've just blogged about Americans' thin skins at the Berkshire Blog and hope you'll read that (amazing to find that Americans have always worried about criticism and even 200 years ago seemed to be excessively touchy) after giving me a hand with an editorial question. I was looking over an article for our Global Perspectives on the United States volume and found that at the beginning of each country article we compare the area of the country with something familiar to U.S. citizens and students, our states. Most readers will be Americans, and we very much want this work to be used in thousands of schools, but here's what worried me: Greece was compared in area (hectares, btw) to Alabama. Just "Alabama." I thought, and think, that it should read, "the U.S. state of Alabama." We wouldn't assume everyone knows every English county, after all. Maybe I'm being a little touchy myself here and I'm curious to know what you tthink.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 10:49 AM | Comments (1)