When I went to Austin, they were selling tons of "If Texas secedes from the USA, Austin secedes from Texas" and all kinds of shit that said "We're not like the rest of our state". Isn't Austin within Texas kind of like West Berlin being wholly contained by East Germany?

That or Texans really ARE smug. Drive around and see how many Texan flags you see: it's a lot more Texas flags than American flags. And Texans think they're the "real" Americans!

France took over tons of land, but unlike England, they treated everywhere they took as part of greater France. Algeria had three states with the same status as a French state. You could just go between France and the colonies with ease, whether you were a French person or someone from the colonies. The reason black…

What about Sarah Palin, hockey mom? I believe she named herself arbiter of all things REAL AMERICAN.

Well, we did. WE CREATE OUR OWN REALITY.

You're mostly right, but it's not as if unions are consistently the ones making the relationship adversarial. Unions started due to negative management pressure, and in many places they're still needed to protect against that. It depends entirely on the workplace situation, and you're probably right that this wasn't…

I like how "thugs" is used against both of conservatives' arch-enemies: union workers AND inner-city minorities. So versatile!

good luck Jonathan!!!

Oh we get plenty if American also-rans. They're always very dramatically built up by the announcers as legit contenders only to finish 28th in the qualifying round.

All trade that passes through America is exploitative? Really? Every last bit? If we get so pissy about other nations' freedom, why is that the go-to appeal every time our leaders need to justify a war? I'm not so naive as you to sit there and say America is all good or all bad, but since that juvenile black-white…

Wait, what? I thought Alyssa liked by all genders.

Your suggestion was not only that patriotism is dumb, but that anyone who would join the military for patriotic reasons is equally dumb as their only sacrifice would be for "the ultra wealthy". Congratulations, your views on international relations are now at a bratty 9th-grader's level.

Fair point. Example for your baffling-male-drool quotient: Jennifer Love Hewitt. We drool; women don't get it.

I'm a straight dude, so can one of you explain this guy's appeal to me, beyond his having the most British name in history? Clooney and Elba, I totally get it. Cumberbatch? He seems really average-looking and plays a very convincing asshole in most of his roles, so I find the frenzy really puzzling.

Indeed. I almost did in Bolivia, at least, before I figured out what's what.

It was pretty gross the first time I encountered it in Bolivia, but I got used to it pretty quickly. Most of the trashcans had those swinging lids so you didn't have to look at everyone's post-shit material. I also noticed that colored (usually pink or blue) TP was pretty popular: it hides the brown more effectively.

In fairness, your chances of ever going doing more than 35 or so in Indian traffic are pretty slim.

I hadn't thought of it that way, but that makes a lot of sense.

Once you figure out a 5K is 3.1 miles, it's pretty easy to do the math. But yeah, you have to learn that first.

What? I have never encountered this running 10Ks - they just stop putting markers after mile 6, considering you can usually see the finish line. I think you just had a really weird race organizer.