Von Neumann machines. The key to space and much else. 2438

: : France? Munich? Perhaps you need to put down the hash pipe? : : : Two bites, one hook, the other was Steve O'Hara-Smith. : : Proud of yourself? : Bragging rights, pal. : I learnt that in the USA. It's not British to gloat, but I thought : a Yank might understand it. What? British snobbery is the national pastime.

Only among those that consider themselves better than anyone else. Her Phuckwit Majesty with her Earls and Lords and Barons and Knights can kiss my arse, even if film actors get to be Presidents, Governers and away with liquidate.

: : Perhaps you need to take up the fishing rod, they tell me the : : early bird catches the fishbait. : : Don't they have a ferry into Germany these days? : Good grief, no. Compebreastion between the ferry operators and : the Chunnel operators is fierce, no room for the small operator. : Riding the ferry is done at Xmas to stock up on cheaper booze. : Roll on, stay on. Drink beer while crossing. You'd think there was enough for both ferries and the Chunnel. : : A full 50% of all Brits are above average intelligence, while half : : of all Yanks are below average intelligence. : : Yet, we managed to save your butts in two world wars and whipped you : twice : to boot! : Nonsense, Britain saved your butt. You were caught with your pants down : when Japan woke you up at Pearl Harbour, and Germany was developing an : ICBM to hit New York and Washington. London was being planted by the Nazis. If you had had things under control then it would have been done before 1944. You Brits like to rewrite history even moreso than us Yanks, and that is pretty bad! : You tried sitting on the fence against Napoleon, Hitler and Hirohito; it : didn't work. Japan got retribution for Pearl Harbor. Foget Napoleon. That is YOUR embarrbuttment and yours alone. Nap was good at taking the fight out of you for the War of 1812 and that is about it. We took care of Hitler because you couldn't do it! After WWII, yoiu were no longer the superpower, that went to us. Results, mate, look at the results! Say and believe what you want. Rewrite all you want. But the results show the shift in world power away from you and toward us after WWII.

Sure, look at the results. See 'em from a satellite. N 40 43' 0" W 74 0' 59" N 29 56' 00" W 90 06' 00"

Still bought our Harrier, though.

: "we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on : the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in : the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall : never surrender, " -- Great Uncle Winston. Gotta love a guy that could drink a bottle of scotch a day and get away with it!

His mother was an American, and I can still do it. :-)

: The only thing more certain today than back in 1812, is that if : you blokes came over to police us colonialists, ever since that time : until : now, is the fact that we'd kick your butt again. : We were busy with Nappy in 1812, Tchaikovsky wrote an Overture about it. : There was no point in fighting you lot, but if we'd failed against Nappy : you turncoats would be speaking French and be a province of Quebec. : You do know that Detroit, New Orleans, San Francisco and Miami : are not English names, right? We saved your arse there too. A few years : ago Wendy's had old newspapers printed on the tables in their : burger joints, full of advertisements for British made goods, not French : or Spanish junk. Big deal! Right now you can't make 1% of what the Chinese make!

Sadly, I know... the f***ing socialists took over while capitalism is on the rise in China. We can only live in past glory.

: : Yah... it's always been someone else's problem. There was a tale of : woe : : on British TV the other night about a Chinese woman forced into : : end, : : but dammit, the population explosion has to be brought under : control. : : That is what Hitler thought too... : Yeah... he had a point, but went about it the wrong way. Free condoms : would have been cheaper than free plants, then all would have prospered. No argument there... : : : If the Chinese make a law saying one child only, then tough if she : gets : : pregnant the second time. But of course the press wants to stir up : an : : emotional response and start a frigging famine without regard when : the : : world population is tripled 100 years down the road. : : By then we should have colonies off the planet making declarations of : independence and the like. : I don't know of any, but since the human population doubles in : 34 years it will only take 34 years to fill Mars, and there are no : steaks : on the hoof, pork chops, Maine lobster or Gulf shrimp... not even : a crawdad or a muskie. Heck, I doubt there's even a spud, a loaf : of Italian bread, an American muffin or a refried bean. : That's a whole lot more important than any declaration of independence. Well the population modeld show a slow down in 50 years or so I'm told.

Sure, but did you see famine in the same model? That's a vicious population growth retarder.

: : The cure for famine is rest of the hungry. : : The math is simple, the solution will be found by Nature whether we : : cry now or cry later. One rest is a tragedy, one billion rests is : a : : statistic. : : Can you envision the planet's well being as total destruction of the : human : race and actually accept that as a fact where you sit right now? : "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World : War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein I think you missd my point of Mother Earth cleansing herself of humans, and you're being okay with that.

I didn't miss it. Lovelock's Gaia has been with us for many years. I used to subscribe to New Scientist in 1975.

: : Yeah, I have. And Aliquippa PA and Bradford England. Now we have : : riots in Birmingham, and I don't mean Alabama. : : Alabama in the US has too much hurricane devastation to have riots at : present. : How are they doing in LA these days? Is Rodney King still on PCP? I don't know. But there was a terrible incident where a 60 year old man was beaten in NO. You don't hear much about it lately, but it was another amateur videotape catching the cops beating a black man. {Goat or boar recipe snipped : Man, you guys with food is like the US with public transportation. : Asian food, mate. If you like goat, make sure your taste buds can stand : a pint of English ale at cellar temperature. We can sell you buses and : trains if you need them, we've more experience than anyone. How about : a nice Concorde, Mach 2 luxury to get you anywhere? The Rolls Royce : of aircraft. The Indians and Paki's wont buy unfortunately, and : we dont really like goat or possum. We'll also need you to subsidise it, as we Americans hate paying taxes you know.

Just trying to help your public transportation problems. Greyhound sucks worse than raccoon and the NY subway stinks of stale urine.

: : I thought the Portuguese were the slave traders? Open hostility by : : calling : : you a fool? Okay, you're not a fool, just very thin skinned... : : : LOL ... I lived in Florida for a while. Have you ever watched a : 'gator? : : Like any good 'gator my bite is far worse than my bark; water off : : a duck's back is no comparison to eyes peeping just above the : surface. : : I understand that gators actually taste good and their skins make fine : purses and the like. : Yeah? Must be a lot of feathers with the 11 herbs and spices Colonel : Fried Pennsyltucky churns out, not much good for purses, though. : How about fried "Don't read on me " rattlesnake or raccoon caps : with the tail hanging down? Can't use the Pepsi, red, white and blue colors like Stars and Stripes, Union Jack and French Flag... : : : "The Fourth of July never fails to reinspire my patriotism and sense : of : : community with my fellow Americans, even when those fellow Americans : are : : a mob of drunken cretins and teenagers trying to get out of downtown : : Chicago at 11pm. : : Reminds me of the time in Sachsenhausen back in 1976, when two Brits : spotted me wearing a "Maryland is for Crabs" tee-shirt and wanted to : "fire : me up". After about 2-3 hours of walking the streets of Frankfurt and : them : realizing I wasn't some A-hole, they let me go. But it WAS a close : call. : Yeah, we've got our share of arseholes here too. Trouble is we've not : got : my old pals Smith and Wesson to take care of them, more's the pity. : We've got police cameras to record the evidence, watched by cops : sitting on their duffs scoffing doughnuts. At least your cops eat : doughnuts : in the 7-11 and go there packing. Which can be both good and bad. Your suicidal teenagers are more likely only going to whack themselves jumping off a bridge whereas our's tend to like shooting sprees where innocent people get whacked before the punk decides to take himself out.

Our suicidal teenagers ride motorcycles at 110 mph to show us who is King of the Road, they are just as likely to whack a car coming the other way as shoot someone and miss. Our police record it on camera so they know who to prosecute afterwards.

: : Britain does not have a consbreastutional right to free speech, we have : : free speech : : without it and don't EVER let nyone try to stop it or they will be : : bitten by : : an Olde English bulldog turned 'gator. : : We've just celebrated the 200th aniversary of Trafalgar, having : kicked : : the : : butt of the guy who sold you the swamp called Louisana. : : I'd back Nelson against the Pittsburgh Pirates anyday, and hope : never : : to need to. : : ?? : "Most unnerving of all for the captains of the fleet was the knowledge : that they were about to put themselves against the most skilful sea : captain of all time - Horatio Viscount Nelson. : Only slightly less awe-inspiring was the British Jack Tar himself, that : clay-piped, pig-tailed sailor, who, more often than not, had been : recruited by the press gangs from the scourings of the English sea : towns. Already an aggressive fighting man by instinct, he had literally : been whipped into becoming a magnificent sailor by the iron discipline : of autocratic captains for whom the lash was the answer to almost every : infringement of the ship«s rules." I know this isn't about the Lusitania.

We didn't sink that... musta been youens.

Androcles.