Is this the one-thousandth posted diavlog? I guess that depends on how completely the older ones were transferred to the new forum (and on not counting Apollo.) Happy Benchmark!

Wait. Did Ross blame global warming for earthquakes?

Really, really great to see Ross back on BHTV. Not only is he one of my favorites, but there's been a serious dearth of good righties on BHTV lately (too much Matt Lewis and David Frum makes my head explode) And Yglesias is at least smart enough that he's not entirely insufferable. Looking forward to this.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...665910,00.html

Hard Times for Snowmen

The snowmen are feeling the heat in southern Germany where temperatures reached an unseasonable eight degrees Celsius on Tuesday, a day after the start of the Copenhagen climate summit.

This thinking cuts both ways... and yes, just like Hurricane Katrina.

I'm going to second nikkibong's remark from yesterday, this is like all my favorite regulars doing BH all in a row. Ross as extremely mellow and calm rightie. Now we need a Reihan. In fact, we need a Ross/Reihan.

Having lived in Europe and in an immigrant neighborhood there, I concur. Will have to read Caldwell's book. Bruce Bawer was mentioned, and what he has to say on the issue is good as well.

Agreed. It's actually quite frustrating; I've gone from a few days in which Bloggingheads had nothing I wanted to watch, to this sense that i don't have time to catch everything that's worth watching. There's been a Josh Cohen/Brink Lindsey, Mark Schmitt/Glenn Loury, these two, and a great apollo diavlog. Whatever bloggingheads is doing to make this happen, they need to keep it up.

BHTV's very fine week continues. Good to see you both, Matt and Ross! And thanks, BhTV, for all the great content!

If you want to read someone from across the pond on the islamification of Europe, there is none better than Douglas Murray: "The event was scholarly, incisive and wide-ranging. There were no ranters or rabble-rousers, just an invited audience of academics, writers, politicians and sombre party members. As yet another example of Islam’s violent confrontation with the West (this time caused by cartoons) swept across the globe, we tried to discuss Islam as openly as we could. The Dutch security service in the Hague was among those who considered the threat to us for doing this as particularly high. The security status of the event was put at just one level below “national emergency”.

This may seem fantastic to people in Britain. But the story of Holland — which I have been charting for some years — should be noted by her allies. Where Holland has gone, Britain and the rest of Europe are following. The silencing happens bit by bit. A student paper in Britain that ran the Danish cartoons got pulped. A London magazine withdrew the cartoons from its website after the British police informed the editor they could not protect him, his

Wow, 1K diavlogs. Congrats bhtv. I think a celebration diavlog with Bob & Mickey of some sort (maybe telling more of the history and giving some credit to the lesser seen characters: Brenda, Dingle etc.) is in order.

Quoting Stapler Malone: Is that McCullough's Truman and Chernow's Hamilton over Ross' right shoulder? Good stuff.

Finished McCollough's John Adams a couple weeks back. Fantastic. Am looking to pick up another of his. Truman might be it... Hamilton came off looking a bit tarnished in Adams (Abigale thought him a Devil) so I wonder if Chernow will redeam him for me. Franklin and Jefferson's personaes were also brought into a different light for that matter.

Hmm...couldn't help but notice that elitist NYTimes Douthat pronounces it Copen haah-gen, whereas, man of the people Yglesias says Copen-hay-gen...like a real American!

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: like a real American!

Real Murkins just call Cope "dip," you snob.

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: Hmm...couldn't help but notice that elitist NYTimes Douthat pronounces it Copen haah-gen, whereas, man of the people Yglesias says Copen-hay-gen...like a real American!

Actually, as I learned (after pronouncing it incorrectly until then) when I went to see the play a few years ago, Matt's pronunciation is the correct one. (cf., hear). Of course, what exactly "correct" means is somewhat murky, since the people that live there tend to pronounce it like this. ;^)

It's so cute Douthat believes he should be blogging to deserve a spot on bhTV!

Quoting uncle ebeneezer: Wow, 1K diavlogs. Congrats bhtv. I think a celebration diavlog with Bob & Mickey of some sort (maybe telling more of the history and giving some credit to the lesser seen characters: Brenda, Dingle etc.) is in order.

I support this.

Guys (Matt and Ross) - if you're going to quote climate statistics, get them right. According to NASA, 2005 so far has been the warmest year on record. This year is not that far behind. And indeed the decade of the 2000's is warmer than that of the 1990's.

I think that was from a 2006 article titled 2005 Was Warmest Year in Over a Century yet there is pretty good convergence on the year 1998 as being the warmest, but then NASA had to redo it's computations and 1934 was the year (from memory) until they redid the redo at that point their credibility went sub zero. But to see the latest and greatest from NASA here is a link to Global Temperature Trends: 2008 Annual Summation.

Matthew, drink from the faucet! You don't need to generate more plastic!

Yglesias recently condemned the Washington Post for having the nerve to publish an op-ed by S Palin (without citing one error) yet he has no problem with the NYTimes or other papers spreading the Nobel award-winning wisdom of Al 'the interior of the earth is hot, several million degrees' and 'all the Climategate emails are over 10 years old' Gore. Maybe Thinkprogress can team up the WaPo with the CRU so they can change the op-ed review process to keep out disagreement.

Oh well, at least one stereotype stands then. The liberal got it right (Yglesias, not me). I try to pronounce things the way they are pronounced by the people from the area, but I don't really lose much sleep over it, and frankly get annoyed with people who take that sort of thing uber-seriously.

Is there some reason Matt Yglesias always has to be drinking something in his BH videos? And it's usually always a Dr. Pepper.

Yes and he makes it rather conspicuous, perhaps he is sponsored!

As is usual when two provincial Americans discuss "Europe" and its Muslim immigrants, vague generalities, platitudes and an attitude of superiority hardly justified by American history, take the place of serious analysis of specific countries. The history and traditions of European countries are all quite distinct, and assimilation means different things in Britain, France, Germany, Holland, the Scandinavian countries. Both Yglesias and Douthat paint with such broad strokes that I was quicky bored by their comments. The idea that Europeans in general are racist but "in denial" about their racism, that most Muslims are alienated from their adopted lands and consequently prone to radicalization, that the future is bleak for Europe etc.etc. corresponds to nothing in my experience and nothing I know about other countries. But such bromides help sell books by American wingnuts.

They're spot on though. Even Yglesias gets it. Europeans are more racist than Americans. Europe is still relatively new to integrating immigrants. Can outisders really ever be Dutch when they're not actually Dutch? I mean Europeans have to put up signs in sports stadiums today that say, No to Racism!, so that white Europeans fans don't call black players monkeys or go off on Muslim players. Yglesias mentioned the Swiss sign that was part of an anti-immigrant campaign. Here it is: Making Switzerland Safe... or Bringing Security to Switzerland (My Home - Our Switzerland) That being said, as I've said before, Europe has done and is doing a pretty good job of integrating people. Like Ross argued in his NYTimes opEd, there will be some downs, but integration will happen over time and something like Euarabia happening, won't (green flags over Notre Dame or whatever).

Pathetic, Lyle. Franco makes the sharp, spot-on point that "Europe" is a non-entity. "Europe" is compromised of numerous individual states and societies, each with their own histories and national characteristics. Your response:

Quoting Lyle: Europeans Europe Europeans white Europeans Europe Eurarabia

Pathetic? Haha. Europe as a non-entity, is that what Yglesias and Douthat were talking about? ... and oh, I didn't know Europe was made up of a bunch of different countries or different cultures. Oh no, I thought they were all the same and speak but one language. Franco is just picked for being referenced as a racist. I'd defend myself if I was French too. Matt and Ross simply said there are race tensions in Europe today that do not exist in America today. They didn't say Europe wasn't handling it properly or not handling the issue at all, on the contrary Douthat wrote an OpEd that applauds Europe's handling of immigrant integration. Did you even read his article?

Thank you Nikibong for being spot on about my being spot on. Lyle's cartoon gets one thing right: the sheepishness of the Swiss.

So when talking about the countries in the EU, in a general sense, we're supposed to take the time to talk about each country individually? Which order should we go in... would this work. First I'll talk about France, next I'll talk about the United Kingdom, next I'll talk about Germany, next I'll talk about Italy, next I'll mention Spain, then I'll say something about Portugal, then something about Andorra, then Belgium, then San Marino, then Luxembourg, then Switzerland (not EU), then the Netherlands, then Liechtenstein, then Denmark, then Poland, then Denmark, then Sweden, then Norway (not EU), then Austria, then the Czech Republic, next Slovakia, then Slovenia, then Hungary, then Ireland, then Iceland (not EU), then Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, then Greece, then Bulgaria, and then lastly Romania.. and for kicks I might then get into Russia, Serbia, and Albania. Dare I even talk Turkey? Yeah, how fucking practical.

Quoting Lyle: So what were when talking about the countries in the EU, in a general sense, we're supposed to take the time to talk about each country individually? Which order should we go in... would this work. First I'll talk about France, next I'll talk about the United Kingdom, next I'll talk about Germany, next I'll talk about Italy, next I'll mention Spain, then I'll say something about Portugal, then something about Andorra, then Belgium, then San Marino, then Luxembourg, then Switzerland (not EU), then the Netherlands, then Liechtenstein, then Denmark, then Poland, then Denmark, then Sweden, then Norway (not EU), then Austria, then the Czech Republic, next Slovakia, then Slovenia, then Hungary, then Ireland, then Iceland (not EU), then Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, then Greece, then Bulgaria, and then lastly Romania.. and for kicks I might then get into Russia, Serbia, and Albania. Dare I even talk Turkey?

Yeah, how fucking practical.

God is in the details, as a famous art historian once said. If you want to hear platitudes there are plenty of media outlets to satisfy the least exigent tastes.

If the Swiss are so sheepish why is it that Switzerland Has The Lowest Crime Rate In The World.

Quoting piscivorous: If the Swiss are so sheepish why is it that Switzerland Has The Lowest Crime Rate In The World.

You tell me, pisc. Is there a logical contradiction between being sheepish and law-abiding?

Not particularly. Perhaps it is only coincidental that in the country that has voted to ban construction of new minerates there is not a plethora of burning cars in the streets.

Quoting piscivorous: Not particularly. Perhaps it is only coincidental that in the country that has voted to ban construction of new minerates there is not a plethora of burning cars in the streets.

Well then why did you ask such an idiotic question? Nevermind, you have a gift for saying idiotic things. Minerates?

Sorry you are unable/unwilling to get the point.

Quoting piscivorous: Sorry you are unable/unwilling to get the point.

Let's see if I get your point: Since the Swiss are sheepish, law-abiding racists, the French should imitate them?

Yep typical educational institutional thought train. Try stretching your imagination it would do you good to get out of your box.

Here's a pic of the Swiss anti-minaret poster auf Deutsch. Stop! Yes to the minaret ban. NSDAP colors too. The pretty girl in black sort looks like she belongs to the Schutzstaffel or something.

Matt and Ross go over a wide range of opinions on climate policy, but one thing that is rarely heard is that most likely the current rush to "converge" on policies, caps, taxes, bans, mandates, subsidies, etc...will actually hurt the environment and exacerbate global warming. After all, progress and human cooperation at a local level is constantly cleaning the environment and combating climate change while making people better off. In politics one used to hear about "the silent majority", but what both Matt and Ross seem to be missing (with their fanatical focus on policy-making and policy-makers) is the vast silent churning-forward of civil society, which through trial-and-error and unsung small improvements makes daily steps towards a better and cleaner environment. So, if on one hand I could be considered a "skeptic", because I believe the envisioned policies will damage the earth, on the other hand I'm much more optimistic about human ingenuity and I regard people like Matt, who only have faith in clever policy solutions, as the real "skeptics". Skeptics to such a degree that they don't even realize how clean the environment is in the Western world thanks to the cumulative

Quoting Unit: Matt and Ross go over a wide range of opinions on climate policy, but one thing that is rarely heard is that most likely the current rush to "converge" on policies, caps, taxes, bans, mandates, subsidies, etc...will actually hurt the environment and exacerbate global warming. After all, progress and human cooperation at a local level is constantly cleaning the environment and combating climate change while making people better off. In politics one used to hear about "the silent majority", but what both Matt and Ross seem to be missing (with their fanatical focus on policy-making and policy-makers) is the vast silent churning-forward of civil society, which through trial-and-error and unsung small improvements makes daily steps towards a better and cleaner environment. So, if on one hand I could be considered a "skeptic", because I believe the envisioned policies will damage the earth, on the other hand I'm much more optimistic about human ingenuity and I regard people like Matt, who only have faith in clever policy solutions, as the real "skeptics". Skeptics to such a degree that they don't even realize how clean the environment is in the Western world thanks to the cumulative

Quoting claymisher: It's a mixed bag. If you're talking about the transition from coal to natural gas, yeah, but if you're talking about the transition from water power to coal, not so much. Anyway, it doesn't make much sense to grade on a curve here. Relative greenness isn't the point. Plain old air pollution still kills thousands.

But yeah, we'd get 80% of the way there with a great big honking carbon tax and letting the market sort out the details.

I don't like the carbon tax nor cap-and-trade. It seems to me the differences between the two are minimal. Both solutions, in essence, move the problem in the hands of the elites and hope that the smart guys will be able to figure the "right" level of taxation: that cures the environment but doesn't choke growth out to the point that it starts hurting the environment etc...I don't believe they can do it. My solution would be quite different. I would start by identifying all the subsidies to carbon consumption and all the distortions that the law produces in favor of carbon consumption and then start hacking away. I realize that my preferred policy prescription is

Quoting Unit: I don't like the carbon tax nor cap-and-trade. It seems to me the differences between the two are minimal. Both solutions, in essence, move the problem in the hands of the elites and hope that the smart guys will be able to figure the "right" level of taxation: that cures the environment but doesn't choke growth out to the point that it starts hurting the environment etc...I don't believe they can do it. My solution would be quite different. I would start by identifying all the subsidies to carbon consumption and all the distortions that the law produces in favor of carbon consumption and then start hacking away. I realize that my preferred policy prescription is just as improbable to be realized as anyone else's.

You used to be for a carbon tax. What changed? Naw, everyone should own their own planet, and then there won't be any externalities or intertemporal welfare issues.

Or you could be like Christiane Amanpour, who pronounces the terrorist group headed by Osama Bin Laden "Al Ky Da" on CNN International and "Al Kay Da" when speaking to those hick Americans. Reminds me of those Viet ["Nam" as in "damn"] vs. ["Nahm" as in "prom"] discussions. "Damn, I missed prom 'cause I was in Nam...Nahm(?)." But no one ever pronounces Paris "Paree" I wonder why.

Quoting rfrobison: Or you could be like Christiane Amanpour, who pronounces the terrorist group headed by Osama Bin Laden "Al Ky Da" on CNN International and "Al Kay Da" when speaking to those hick Americans.

Reminds me of those Viet ["Nam" as in "damn"] vs. ["Nahm" as in "prom"] discussions.

"Damn, I missed prom 'cause I was in Nam...Nahm(?)."

But no one ever pronounces Paris "Paree"

I wonder why.

No mystery there. None of the European languages pronounces the place names of other European countries as the natives do, unless it can be done without tongue twisting.

Quoting Francoamerican: No mystery there. None of the European languages pronounces the place names of other European countries as the natives do, unless it can be done without tongue twisting.

Oh, it goes beyond that. Germany/l'Allemagne/Deutschland--the three don't even LOOK the same, let alone sound the same.

Quoting PreppyMcPrepperson: Oh, it goes beyond that. Germany/l'Allemagne/Deutschland--the three don't even LOOK the same, let alone sound the same.

Of course, that goes without saying. But there are some place names that are easier to pronounce that others. In French no one has trouble pronouncing Madrid, but no French speaker would ever feel comfortable pronouncing London, hence Londres. No English speaker could pronounce Reims as the French do in a hundred years! And Joan of Arc doesn't sound much like Jeanne d'Arc either.

Quoting Francoamerican: Of course, that goes without saying. But there are some place names that are easier to pronounce that others. In French no one has trouble pronouncing Madrid, but no French speaker would ever feel comfortable pronouncing London, hence Londres. No English speaker could pronounce Reims as the French do in a hundred years!

And Joan of Arc doesn't sound much like Jeanne d'Arc either.

What? You mean Reems? What about it? Did Jeen Dark fight there? ;-)

Quoting rfrobison: What? You mean Reems? What about it? Did Jeen Dark fight there? ;-)

Jeen may have fought at Reems, but the it was probably at RANCE that JANNE DARK fought. Very approximate phonetics.

Quoting PreppyMcPrepperson: Oh, it goes beyond that. Germany/l'Allemagne/Deutschland--the three don't even LOOK the same, let alone sound the same.

you forgot Tedeschi!

Quoting nikkibong: you forgot Tedeschi!

Indulge, if you must.

Along with "Lyle" above, I am also American who lived in an immigrant neighborhood in Europe. I have to disagree with "FrancoAmerican" due to my personal experiences. In my conversations with "cultured" Europeans (they had advanced degrees and had studied and traveled in numerous countries and spoke many languages), I was stunned to find out how racist they were. They resented Asians and Muslims for not assimilating, living in their own communities, having more children, and never learning a second language. I believe it was BBC4 (which has esteemed programming) that produced a mini-series about a Muslim MI-5 man whose sister became an Islamic radical. Wouldn't this be indicative of paranoia even if it reflects how Muslims have assimilated into British culture? What happened in Switzerland is only just the beginning. I was even more shocked to see how many NYTimes commenters side with the decision when the news was released. Liberals aren't all that liberal, neither here nor across the pond. Many Americans still have this romantic idea about Europe as being more refined and cultured, and Europeans certainly assert themselves this way because they do have more history, more art, they travel more, and they are exposed to

Quoting claymisher: You used to be for a carbon tax. What changed?

Naw, everyone should own their own planet, and then there won't be any externalities or intertemporal welfare issues.

I've never been in favor of the carbon tax. I once thought that the carbon tax would be better than cap-and-trade, but I've changed my mind on that. I do agree that carbon consumption is currently subsidized. I also don't deny the existence of externalities, internalities, etc...I don't think politics can do much about them, in fact I'm more inclined to believe that politics makes them worse. Heck, from my point of view, govt is the biggest externality of all: when people indulge in idealistic schemes on how other people's money should be put to use, politics picks those vibes up and goes out and makes a big mess of it. In other words, it's a classic case of the tragedy of the commons. Voters indulge in more irrational wishes that they could afford if they were to pay from their own pockets and govt is just a machine that turns wishes into bungled reality that we all end up paying. Except we can't even launch a

Quoting Unit: I've never been in favor of the carbon tax. I once thought that the carbon tax would be better than cap-and-trade, but I've changed my mind on that. I do agree that carbon consumption is currently subsidized. I also don't deny the existence of externalities, internalities, etc...I don't think politics can do much about them, in fact I'm more inclined to believe that politics makes them worse. Heck, from my point of view, govt is the biggest externality of all: when people indulge in idealistic schemes on how other people's money should be put to use, politics picks those vibes up and goes out and makes a big mess of it. In other words, it's a classic case of the tragedy of the commons. Voters indulge in more irrational wishes that they could afford if they were to pay from their own pockets and govt is just a machine that turns wishes into bungled reality that we all end up paying. Except we can't even launch a class-action suit on the median voter and its Congressional enablers, no Coasean deals, nothing, no way out. We're just supposed to take it and shut up.

Sounds like

Quoting claymisher: Sounds like you read an article about Lin Ostrom somewhere and have added the gloss to your antigovernment arsenal.

Do you have anything in your analytical toolkit there that explains why some governments are better than others? Why aren't they all equally bad?

Anyway, I'm all for unsubsidizing greenhouse gasses. That ain't enough to internalize the externality though.

You really ought to read Coase's "The Problem of Social Cost" sometime. It's full of surprises.

Hrm.

Funny you mention, I was cleaning up my desk today and got into my hands the Coase paper you mention. You must have ESP because yes, I have indeed been reading Ostrom and also just finished watching her Nobel acceptance speech. Actually the model of govt as dream machine for the median voter is something I learned from reading "The myth of the rational voter" by Bryan Caplan (highly recommended). Putting the tragedy of the common and the analogy between politics and pollution together was my creative flourish although I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that I had read something similar in the past. My position on the Carbon tax, as you were able to dig up, is

Wow, some wikipedia-ist has WAY too much time on his hands.

Quoting rfrobison: Wow, some wikipedia-ist has WAY too much time on his hands.

It takes two minutes and one can learn something in the process. And it is in 'her' hands.

Quoting Unit: Funny you mention, I was cleaning up my desk today and got into my hands the Coase paper you mention. You must have ESP because yes, I have indeed been reading Ostrom and also just finished watching her Nobel acceptance speech.

It ain't ESP.

Quoting Unit: In other words, I can live with it but I think it'll be inefficient.

That's how I feel about capitalism.

Quoting claymisher: It ain't ESP.

What? You put a camera or a microphone in my house?

Quoting JTT: ... The grass isn't greener here. It's just less brown than it is everywhere else.

while I agree with this to a large extent in some instances and in some professions the grass is definably green for a subset of minorities.

A story: Part I: In 1978, when my Indian dad graduated from a masters prog in Finance at LSE, he took a job as an auditor for a London accounting firm. He was there 4 years during which he was promoted from an auditor to a manager overseeing several accounts. But what he remembers most about that job was the first day: he walked in, and the guy looked at him and at his CV and according to my dad, made a few cracks about his name and why he didn't wear a turban (we're not Sikhs, just Indians...). After that, they kept assigning him to strange joke projects, instead of to the corporate clients he was hired to handle. For example: "go to a zoo in a village about an hour outside London and audit it. And when you get to 'inventory,' make sure they have all the animals. And make sure you see each animal close-up, not from afar." And so my dad would find himself in a cage staring face-to-face at an alpha male gorilla, and freaking out. Papa didn't say anything, because you know, he was new, and had a funny name, and needed to

Quoting JTT: Along with "Lyle" above, I am also American who lived in an immigrant neighborhood in Europe.

I have to disagree with "FrancoAmerican" due to my personal experiences. In my conversations with "cultured" Europeans (they had advanced degrees and had studied and traveled in numerous countries and spoke many languages), I was stunned to find out how racist they were. They resented Asians and Muslims for not assimilating, living in their own communities, having more children, and never learning a second language. I believe it was BBC4 (which has esteemed programming) that produced a mini-series about a Muslim MI-5 man whose sister became an Islamic radical. Wouldn't this be indicative of paranoia even if it reflects how Muslims have assimilated into British culture?

What happened in Switzerland is only just the beginning. I was even more shocked to see how many NYTimes commenters side with the decision when the news was released. Liberals aren't all that liberal, neither here nor across the pond.

Many Americans still have this romantic idea about Europe as being more refined and cultured, and Europeans certainly assert themselves this way because they do have more history, more art, they travel more, and they are exposed to

Quoting Francoamerican: Highly educated immigrants are always welcome in the US as they are in Europe, but what about all the others? Do you really think that the old WASPS and would-be WASPS who still rule the US have a very high opinion of the hordes of barely literate hispanics who flock to your shores? And what about African-Americans? Are they "assimilated"? There are Americans in this forum who seriously argue that Blacks are innately inferior....

Your comments lack specificity. I live in France (being half-American and half-French), and I have never found the French to be half as racist as the Americans I knew as a child growing up in the US.

I guess we have just had different experiences.

Profit maximization is the best antidote against prejudice. In a competitive environment, racial or ethnic bias becomes a luxury that employers cannot afford. Maybe the US has a more competitive market system that makes up for people's biases.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...ario-balotelli

The songs are varied, offensive and, in at least one case, openly racist. "If you jump up and down, Balotelli dies" is a favourite with supporters of arguably the most famous Italian football club, Juventus.

"A negro cannot be Italian" is the chant that explains the vitriol. The target of the abuse is 19-year-old Mario Balotelli, a footballer with Italian champions Inter Milan and a rising star of Italy's Under-21 national team.

In England, Germany or France, Balotelli would be making headlines in the sports pages as one of the most exciting young prospects in the national sport. In Italy, his treatment at the hands of a minority of hostile football fans is turning him into a symbol of the country's seeming inability to embrace a multi-ethnic identity. Last Monday, Juventus were fined for anti-Balotelli chanting at a match for the second time this season.

Balotelli was born – and immediately abandoned by his Ghanaian parents – in the Sicilian capital, Palermo. He is an Italian passport holder and was brought up by adopted parents in Brescia from the age of two. He speaks with the accent of his region, but has received far more racist abuse

I'm in complete agreement on how many Europeans are racist.

This is a really good point, and likely accurate.

Francoamerican: We are in partly in agreement.
You did not notice that I did address this when I stated that Europeans share similar attitudes about immigration as conservatives in America do. Many Europeans feel the same about Muslims as many Americans feel about Hispanics. Some of my Europeans colleagues tormented me for creating creating a hole in the ozone layer, driving a gas guzzler, supporting an unjust war while toting a gun around and loving Jesus way too much. Ironically, they shared the exact same sentiments about immigration as stereotypical Republicans. These Europeans had something in common with the very Americans who are the antithesis of who they believed themselves to be. With respect to African-Americans, there is little tension about their "assimilation" into American culture because they literally helped build this country. Without slavery (free labor) America wouldn't have become super-power that it is. They are American so their culture is American culture. They generally, have, at least, English last names (from their slave-holders) and they celebrate American holidays and speak English. Their culture is hybridization or bastarding, if you will, of their origins and their life here. Their culture goes back as far as

Quoting Ocean: It takes two minutes and one can learn something in the process. And it is in 'her' hands.

Ah, I stand corrected. And it was an interesting link, mind you, just not one I would ever think to create--nor have the foggiest idea how to.

Quoting rfrobison: Ah, I stand corrected. And it was an interesting link, mind you, just not one I would ever think to create--nor have the foggiest idea how to.

One link leads to the other. In the world of nerds, there is endless pleasure in navigating all sources of knowledge, even those that may appear trivial to other subspecies. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, libraries are all one huge source of mesmerizing joy! Welcome to our World!

I think the major thing is that America is essentially "raceless", in that we aren't a nation-state predicated on one ethnicity or race. Americans can be black, white, whatever. If you're from Morocco, can you ever really be Dutch? I think that's the essential major difference between Europe and America. I think America's issues have more to do with nativism rather than racism. I don't think people really hate Hispanic immigrants because they're Hispanic, but because they're new immigrants, that have come in large numbers, and many have come in illegally. It's more complicated than just bold face racism, I think. I'd also say the civil rights movement began with abolitionism and most abolitionists were white and religious, although a important few were freedmen or black.