Help Identify a Really Old Story
A Lamar
question and would likely know the answer. If the first isn't true, my
apologies.
I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
"elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
My initial thought was that it was a Ray Bradbury tale, but if so, I haven't
been able to find it. Does it sound familiar to any of you?
Originally there was a bet involved, but now it's just a matter of me being
driven bananas by this nagging question <g>. Thanks for any help you can
give to restore my peace of mind.
Eudaemonic Plague
This doesn't sound at all familiar. I find this odd. Stories in the
last couple of decades that I find unfamiliar, I am not concerned about.
But you're saying this is like, 30 years old? While I'm not terribly
good at connecting, in general, you're talking about the period in which
I was a ravenous reader of the many and varied wondrous works upon which
I fed, back then. Yeah, I'm a bit drunk. and getting stoned. If this
story is actually from that period, and is something that appeared in a
format that was a bit more distributed than the 'zines of the time, I'm
frankly confused. Normally, even if I can't recall the specific
author/story title, I can remember having read the damned thing. *ack*
If this turns out to be something that I've read, and should have
remembered, I'm going to be very annoyed at myself.
**The Blind Pig Rules!**
Champaign, IL
Oh dear, I do believe my grey matter is a bit overcooked.
Mark Atwood
>
> I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
> premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
> you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
> "elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
> man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
I remember one kind of similar.
It's a USian family at an amusement park. Everything a USian does in
the US involves putting your arm in a cuff. There is a very small
chance that a needle will poison you. At this amusment park,
everything from entering the park to riding the rides to going to the
bathroom involves doing this. Non-US visitors on visas dont have to
do it, but they instead pay lots of hard cash money for things.
The father of the family is telling some UKian visitors about how
great and fair the system is, and how low risk each times is. At
the end of the story, the wife has to come tell the husband that
his kids were "eliminated" when they went to the bathroom.
--
Mark Atwood When you do things right, people won't be sure
m...@mark.atwood.name you've done anything at all.
http://mark.atwood.name/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus
John M. Gamble
A Lamar <alama...@aol.com> wrote:
>This group was recommended to me as a place that wouldn't object to the
>question and would likely know the answer. If the first isn't true, my
>apologies.
>
>I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
>premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
>you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
>"elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
>man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
>
Hmm, are you sure it's the beach? I seem to recall a Fred Pohl
story like that, but the family went to a fair. If i remember
even remotely correctly, that is.
--
-john
February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.
Mike Dworetsky
"A Lamar" <alama...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:42828085$0$41662$892e...@authen.white.readfreenews.net...
This strikes a resonance with me. The world is terribly overpopulated.
Let's see, did they drive to the beach, have a short dip of the toes after
waiting their turn, then on the drive back the "eliminations" were by
gassing anyone in cars caught in a tunnel when the doors were suddenly
closed without warning? A sort of lottery of population control? And the
family in the character's car just miss getting caught inside the doors?
And everyone more or less accepted the idea as regrettable but necessary?
It does have a Bradbury feel about it.
--
Mike Dworetsky
(Remove "pants" spamblock to send e-mail)
Nightfall
> premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
> you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
> "elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
> man in a vehicle behind a family with several ch
This sounds a bit like Frederik Pohl's A DAY AT THE LOTTERY FAIR.
When you buy your tickets to get in you have a needle poke your arm and
one in a hundred? thousand? get poison injected and you die RIGHT THERE.
It's for population control.
This is all from memory so I might have some details wrong.
Rande.....
Peter Stilt
> It's a USian family at an amusement park.
> The father of the family is telling some UKian
Out of interest, why don't you just say 'American' and 'British'?
--
Pete
how...@brazee.net
On 12-May-2005, Peter Stilt <sendme...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > It's a USian family at an amusement park.
> <snip>
> > The father of the family is telling some UKian
>
> Out of interest, why don't you just say 'American' and 'British'?
Probably because The two American continents are not US, and The UK is not
Britain. Too bad the UK and the US don't have "real" names like other
countries.
Nancy Lebovitz
Mark Atwood <m...@mark.atwood.name> wrote:
>"A Lamar" <alama...@aol.com> writes:
>>
>> I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
>> premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
>> you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
>> "elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
>> man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
>
>I remember one kind of similar.
>
>It's a USian family at an amusement park. Everything a USian does in
>the US involves putting your arm in a cuff. There is a very small
>chance that a needle will poison you. At this amusment park,
>everything from entering the park to riding the rides to going to the
>bathroom involves doing this. Non-US visitors on visas dont have to
>do it, but they instead pay lots of hard cash money for things.
>The father of the family is telling some UKian visitors about how
>great and fair the system is, and how low risk each times is. At
>the end of the story, the wife has to come tell the husband that
>his kids were "eliminated" when they went to the bathroom.
I think it was one of the kids, not all of them them.
--
--
Nancy Lebovitz http://www.nancybuttons.com
"We've tamed the lightning and taught sand to give error messages."
http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov
Daniel Silevitch
> In article <42828085$0$41662$892e...@authen.white.readfreenews.net>,
> A Lamar <alama...@aol.com> wrote:
>>I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
>>premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
>>you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
>>"elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
>>man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
>>
>
> Hmm, are you sure it's the beach? I seem to recall a Fred Pohl
> story like that, but the family went to a fair. If i remember
> even remotely correctly, that is.
No. I remember the story he's talking about (but not the title or author.
Grrr). The family is driving back from the beach. When they enter the
city, they have to pass through a tunnel. At random times, gates close on
both sides of the tunnel, and it's filled with cyanide.
On their way back to the city, they just avoid getting hit by the gates
(last car through before they closed, IIRC). When talking about it, it
was referred to as The Tunnel, and there was some mention about how
everyone voted to keep it in place, but no-one would ever admit to voting
for it.
Maybe these extra details can help jar someone else's memory.
-dms
rms
rms
mwigdahl
Nancy Lebovitz wrote:
>
> I think it was one of the kids, not all of them them.
> --
> --
> Nancy Lebovitz http://www.nancybuttons.com
> "We've tamed the lightning and taught sand to give error messages."
> http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov
It was all three children, and their bodies were placed on display in
some sort of tent or hall at the fair, still holding the cheap little
items they had "purchased". A powerful and disturbing story.
Matt
Dorothy J Heydt
I dunno about Mark, but I use "USian" because "American" has so
many different meanings. And then "UKian" is a parallel term.
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djh...@kithrup.com
r.r...@thevine.net
wrote:
>"A Lamar" <alama...@aol.com> writes:
>>
>> I'm trying to track down a short story I read probably thirty years ago. The
>> premise of the story was that the world was terribly overpopulated, and if
>> you went to the beach, you ran the risk of being randomly selected for
>> "elimination" on your way back home. It's told from the point of view of a
>> man in a vehicle behind a family with several children.
>
>I remember one kind of similar.
>
>It's a USian family at an amusement park. Everything a USian does in
>the US involves putting your arm in a cuff. There is a very small
>chance that a needle will poison you. At this amusment park,
>everything from entering the park to riding the rides to going to the
>bathroom involves doing this. Non-US visitors on visas dont have to
>do it, but they instead pay lots of hard cash money for things.
>The father of the family is telling some UKian visitors about how
>great and fair the system is, and how low risk each times is. At
>the end of the story, the wife has to come tell the husband that
>his kids were "eliminated" when they went to the bathroom.
I remember a similar story, only it's the father who winds up dead.
And apparently one of the attractions at the fair is a tent where all
the people who have died are displayed in the pose that they were in
when they died. I also recall the dad disparaging other families
where the father made each family member, down to the babies, run the
risk of being poked, instead of being a man and taking the chance
himself.
Rebecca
Peter Stilt
>> > It's a USian family at an amusement park.
>> <snip>
>> > The father of the family is telling some UKian
>>
>> Out of interest, why don't you just say 'American' and 'British'?
>
> Probably because The two American continents are not US,
Wouldn't you just say "Brazilian" or "South American" or "Canadian" if you
meant that; everyone knows what you mean, I would have thought, it's
commonly accepted usage that "American" means a person from the USA.
> and The UK is not Britain.
Only Northern Ireland cares about the difference :-)
But I do see where you're coming from. Just seems a bit.. pedantic, I
guess
--
Pete
Mark Atwood
Because if I were to say "English" or "British", some UKian twit will
show up to make some snooty comment about the difference between the
the United Kingdom, England, and Britian, and how I, as some ignrnt
Yank, got it all wrong.
After the Nth time, I got tired of it.
So they are "UKians", and they can suck it up if they dont like it.
And if I say "American", the Canadians, Mexicans, and residents of
the nations of Central America and South America will roll their eyes
at my provientialism, but are usually far more polite than the UKian,
and wont try to (to use a UKian term) take the piss out of me over it.
So we are "USians".
(Of course, the more annoying CAians like to snoot off about "weians"
in response. Those such can fuck off and die.)
A Lamar
"Mike Dworetsky" <plati...@pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:d5v0lt$dca$1...@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>
> This strikes a resonance with me. The world is terribly overpopulated.
> Let's see, did they drive to the beach, have a short dip of the toes after
> waiting their turn, then on the drive back the "eliminations" were by
> gassing anyone in cars caught in a tunnel when the doors were suddenly
> closed without warning? A sort of lottery of population control?
Yes! My memory says that the doors closed immediately in front of the car
the protagonist is in, eliminating the cheerful family with several
children. It's wonderful to find at least two people (thank you, too,
Daniel Silevitch) who remember the story. I was beginning to wonder if I had
made the whole thing up. Maybe we can creep up on the story's name and
author <g>.
A Lamar
reminded me that a tunnel was involved (nothing like forgetting a central
element), I was able to find it in a Google search. What a relief! Too bad
the bet is off.
Thank you very much -- you have made my day.
William George Ferguson
<sendme...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 12 May 2005 11:54:56 +0000, howard wrote:
>>> > It's a USian family at an amusement park.
>>> <snip>
>>> > The father of the family is telling some UKian
>>>
>>> Out of interest, why don't you just say 'American' and 'British'?
>>
>> Probably because The two American continents are not US,
>
>Wouldn't you just say "Brazilian" or "South American" or "Canadian" if you
>meant that; everyone knows what you mean, I would have thought, it's
>commonly accepted usage that "American" means a person from the USA.
It's commonly accepted by citizens of the United States, it isn't nearly
so commonly accepted by citizens of Canada and Mexico. Mileage varies on
other continents.
We could just refer to them (us) as Yankees as most of the world does,
but then people from the old Confederate states (and Dodger fans) would
likely object.
>> and The UK is not Britain.
>
>Only Northern Ireland cares about the difference :-)
>
>But I do see where you're coming from. Just seems a bit.. pedantic, I
>guess
or non-US.
--
"Who needs the big picture? Not me. Hints are fine."
Joan Girardi (after God shows her just a little of his omnipresent brain)
Michael S. Schiffer
news:b9d781lapq2gok5mk...@4ax.com:
> On Thu, 12 May 2005 16:40:59 +0100, Peter Stilt
><sendme...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>...
>>Wouldn't you just say "Brazilian" or "South American" or
>>"Canadian" if you meant that; everyone knows what you mean, I
>>would have thought, it's commonly accepted usage that "American"
>>means a person from the USA.
> It's commonly accepted by citizens of the United States, it
> isn't nearly so commonly accepted by citizens of Canada and
> Mexico.
Isn't it? A quick search of a couple of Canadian newspaper sites
indicates that "American" is the common adjective for US citizens.
That's been my experience in Europe as well.
Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
"Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
relating to the US?
Mike
--
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS
msch...@condor.depaul.edu
how...@brazee.net
On 12-May-2005, "Michael S. Schiffer" <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote:
> Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
> sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
> "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
> pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
> relating to the US?
Weirdly, when I lived in Mexico during the Kennedy administration, people
told me that I wasn't from America, I was from North America. That didn't
make sense to me, as Mexico is part of North America. But that's what they
said.
Robert Hutchinson
> I dunno about Mark, but I use "USian" because "American" has so
> many different meanings. And then "UKian" is a parallel term.
I use "American" because "USian" just looks (and, God forbid, sounds)
extremely dumb to me.
--
Robert Hutchinson | The Twenty is just so evil. The very name gloats
| over our suffering and powerlessness. It's a
| boot stomping on a human face for twenty minutes.
| -- Shaenon K. Garrity
James Nicoll
Robert Hutchinson <ser...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Dorothy J Heydt says...
>
>> I dunno about Mark, but I use "USian" because "American" has so
>> many different meanings. And then "UKian" is a parallel term.
>
>I use "American" because "USian" just looks (and, God forbid, sounds)
>extremely dumb to me.
>
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
Dorothy J Heydt
James Nicoll <jdni...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <MPG.1cedc8fc5...@netnews.mchsi.com>,
>Robert Hutchinson <ser...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>Dorothy J Heydt says...
>>
>>> I dunno about Mark, but I use "USian" because "American" has so
>>> many different meanings. And then "UKian" is a parallel term.
>>
>>I use "American" because "USian" just looks (and, God forbid, sounds)
>>extremely dumb to me.
>>
> Usonian is the Esperanto term, as I recall.
On the model of Oxonian?
Steve Coltrin
> In article <MPG.1cedc8fc5...@netnews.mchsi.com>,
> Robert Hutchinson <ser...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>I use "American" because "USian" just looks (and, God forbid, sounds)
>>extremely dumb to me.
>>
> Usonian is the Esperanto term, as I recall.
"When we came to your planet, we taught ourselves all of your languages.
Well, except for Esperanto, of course; you could tell _that_ one was
going nowhere..."
--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org Bill Hicks died for your sins
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press
b
> Isn't it? A quick search of a couple of Canadian newspaper sites
> indicates that "American" is the common adjective for US citizens.
> That's been my experience in Europe as well.
Canadian citizens and media sources I'm familiar with would always
associate "American" with the USA. The term "American" is so firmly
attached to the USA (and Canadian identity is so dependent on Not Being
The USA) that pretty much no Canadian would desire to call himself or
herself an "American".
Well, that's my experience as a Canadian, at least ...
Bruce
David Cowie
>>>
>> Usonian is the Esperanto term, as I recall.
>
> On the model of Oxonian?
>
Not quite.
In Esperanto, the name for the USA is "United States of North America", or
Unuigitaj Statoj de Nord-Ameriko. (USN). The spoken names of the letters S
and N are So and No, so USN is spoken, and often written, as "Usono"
The derived adjective from Usono would probably be Usona.
All IIRC.
--
David Cowie
Containment Failure + 13103:45
Michael S. Schiffer
news:pan.2005.05.13...@privacy.net:
"Usonian" was IIRC popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright to describe an
architectural style he was promoting as a homegrown alternative to
English and Continental models for home building. (Some sources on
Google say that he attributed it to utopian novelist Samuel Butler,
but that the word doesn't show up in Butler's works. I haven't read
Butler myself, so that's as far as I can go.)
Chuk Goodin
>Canadian citizens and media sources I'm familiar with would always
>associate "American" with the USA. The term "American" is so firmly
>attached to the USA (and Canadian identity is so dependent on Not Being
>The USA) that pretty much no Canadian would desire to call himself or
>herself an "American".
>
>Well, that's my experience as a Canadian, at least ...
Ditto here as a fellow Canadian.
--
chuk
Aaron Davies
A Spanish (i.e. from Spain) professor of mine here was making a
presentation on search engines just a couple days ago, and as an example
of a "natural language" query, he gave "What country is the highest
mountain in America located in?", with the answer being Argentina, home
of Aconcagua. Apparently this nomenclature is standard in Spanish.
--
Aaron Davies
Opinions expressed are solely those of a random number generator.
"I don't know if it's real or not but it is a myth."
-Jami JoAnne of alt.folklore.urban, showing her grasp on reality.
Simon Slavin
<pan.2005.05.12...@hotmail.com>:
> Wouldn't you just say "Brazilian" or "South American" or "Canadian" if
> you meant that; everyone knows what you mean, I would have thought, it's
> commonly accepted usage that "American" means a person from the USA.
Only in North America. And not all of North America.
Mark Atwood adopted the conventions which are used throughout usenet.
His reasoning is the same as the rest of us, and a reaction to the
mass of nit-pickers who comprise most usenet regulars. Don't worry:
you'll get used to it.
On 12/05/2005, Michael S. Schiffer wrote in message
<Xns9654A3BB5C3B...@130.133.1.4>:
> Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
> sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
> "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
> pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
> relating to the US?
Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
However, I've seen people from Brazil referred to as Americans in
one newspaper and on TV news. Although I've never seen a Canadian
referred to as an American except by accident.
The distinction between 'American' and USAian is carefully noted
everywhere except in the US.
Simon.
--
Using pre-release version of newsreader.
Please tell me if it does weird things.
Dan Goodman
> On 12/05/2005, Peter Stilt wrote in message
>
>> Wouldn't you just say "Brazilian" or "South American" or "Canadian" if
>> you meant that; everyone knows what you mean, I would have thought, it's
>> commonly accepted usage that "American" means a person from the USA.
>
> Only in North America. And not all of North America.
>
> Mark Atwood adopted the conventions which are used throughout usenet.
> His reasoning is the same as the rest of us, and a reaction to the
> mass of nit-pickers who comprise most usenet regulars. Don't worry:
> you'll get used to it.
>
> On 12/05/2005, Michael S. Schiffer wrote in message
>
>> Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
>> sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
>> "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
>> pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
>> relating to the US?
>
> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
> However, I've seen people from Brazil referred to as Americans in
> one newspaper and on TV news. Although I've never seen a Canadian
> referred to as an American except by accident.
>
> The distinction between 'American' and USAian is carefully noted
> everywhere except in the US.
Not, in speech, by Canadians or the English.
In writing? Possibly; the only British examples of "American" being used
for "USAian" I can think of date from WW II. In which case, I wonder when
the change came.
--
Dan Goodman
Journal http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsgood/
Clutterers Anonymous unofficial community
http://www.livejournal.com/community/clutterers_anon/
Decluttering http://decluttering.blogspot.com
Predictions and Politics http://dsgood.blogspot.com
All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.
John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), Scottish writer, physician.
Miles Bader
>>commonly accepted usage that "American" means a person from the USA.
>
> It's commonly accepted by citizens of the United States, it isn't nearly
> so commonly accepted by citizens of Canada and Mexico.
Sure it is; "American" = "US Citizen" is _standard usage_, like it or
not. The only objections I've ever heard have been from the usual
pedantic cranks on usenet/slashdot/etc.
-Miles
--
(\(\
(^.^)
(")")
*This is the cute bunny virus, please copy this into your sig so it can spread.
Miles Bader
> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
> However, I've seen people from Brazil referred to as Americans in
> one newspaper and on TV news. Although I've never seen a Canadian
> referred to as an American except by accident.
>
> The distinction between 'American' and USAian is carefully noted
> everywhere except in the US.
Not true. Indeed, I recall an article/editorial/blurb in The Economist
(which is a newpaper) on exactly this issue, which basically said "We use
`American' to mean citizens of the USA because that is standard usage; get
over it."
-Miles
--
`Life is a boundless sea of bitterness'
Michael S. Schiffer
wrote in news:d6667p$n2n$3$8302...@news.demon.co.uk:
>...
>> web sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North",
>> "South", "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather
>> than, e.g., pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean
>> something other than relating to the US?
> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51
> States.
"Corriere della Sera calls Bradford, an American, 'la top
abbandonata' and suggests that she is carrying out a vendetta
against the Italian entrepreneur."
_The Guardian_, May 15, 2005,
<http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1484265,00.h
tml>
"Disturbingly, in the West the blog run by Robert Spencer, an
American Islam scholar, was not alone in hosting a vile flow of
anti-Islamic diatribe from third-party posters in reaction to the
alleged defamation."
_The Times_, May 14, 2005
<http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,2140-18670-
1611051,00.html>
"Iraq is a bloody no man's land. America has failed to win the war.
But has it lost it?"
The Independent, May 15, 2005
<http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=
638525>
I didn't find any stories in any of those papers where unmodified
"American" or "America" was used for anything non-US, but I grant
that I didn't do a detailed search. Can you point to some
examples?
David M. Palmer
<slavins.delete....@hearsay.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
> However, I've seen people from Brazil referred to as Americans in
> one newspaper and on TV news. Although I've never seen a Canadian
> referred to as an American except by accident.
Searching on the Times' website for 'American', the first hits all
refer to the USA:
> ...the "inexperience" of American soldiers.
> ...Francešs lifelong hatred of America does...
> ...Cars donšt come more American than Cadillac....
> ...on her way to the American base...
> ... American Account: Irwin Stelzer: America falters but keeps pulling ahead of rivals...
Do you have any examples of a UK paper carefully not printing
'American' to refer to something from the USA?
--
David M. Palmer dmpa...@email.com (formerly @clark.net, @ematic.com)
Aaron Davies
wrote:
> > Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
> > sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
> > "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
> > pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
> > relating to the US?
>
> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
^^
[*]
David Goldfarb
Aaron Davies <aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid> wrote:
>Simon Slavin <slavins.delete....@hearsay.demon.co.uk>
>wrote:
>
>> > Can you point to some examples of newspapers, general interest web
>> > sites, etc. where "American" (unmodified by "North", "South",
>> > "Pan-", etc., and directed at the present day rather than, e.g.,
>> > pre-Columbian history) is clearly used to mean something other than
>> > relating to the US?
>>
>> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
>> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
> ^^
>[*]
50 states plus the District of Columbia? Just a guess.
--
David Goldfarb |"Just once I'd like to battle an alien menace
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | that *wasn't* immune to bullets."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stuart
| Doctor Who: "Robot"
Lawrence Watt-Evans
(David Goldfarb) wrote:
>In article <1gwmdgg.1qhhrl71l2y73oN%aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid>,
>Aaron Davies <aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid> wrote:
>>Simon Slavin <slavins.delete....@hearsay.demon.co.uk>
>>wrote:
>>
>>> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
>>> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
>> ^^
>>[*]
>
>50 states plus the District of Columbia? Just a guess.
I was wondering whether he meant DC or Puerto Rico.
Read the new Ethshar novel online! http://www.ethshar.com/thesprigganexperiment0.html
Simon Slavin
<qNSge.6018$r7....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net>:
> Weirdly, when I lived in Mexico during the Kennedy administration, people
> told me that I wasn't from America, I was from North America. That
> didn't make sense to me, as Mexico is part of North America. But
> that's what they said.
Did they call you, or say that you were, 'Norto' ?
Michael S. Schiffer
news:qNSge.6018$r7....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net:
My understanding is that in Mexican Spanish (and possibly other
varieties) "Norteamericano" means "from the US", (which is
idiosyncratic in much the same way as our usage of "American" is,
albeit in a different direction). But I don't know that unmodified
"Americano" means something else.
It may-- what I don't know about Mexican Spanish could fill a
library. But that's why I'm looking for cites I can follow up. A
Google search in .mx finds the word disproportionately in the phrase
"futbol Americano", which on the one hand pretty clearly means
"relating to the US"-- since I assume they're referring to gridiron
as opposed to soccer-- but is also a technical term that may not
reflect usage elsewhere in the language, a la "Scotch whiskey" vs.
"Scottish everything else".
Michael S. Schiffer
news:Xns965891DA9BB8...@130.133.1.4:
>... a la
> "Scotch whiskey" vs. "Scottish everything else".
Correcting myself to avoid a nitpick cascade: "Scotch whisky". :-)
how...@brazee.net
On 15-May-2005, Simon Slavin
<slavins.delete....@hearsay.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > Weirdly, when I lived in Mexico during the Kennedy administration,
> > people
> > told me that I wasn't from America, I was from North America. That
> > didn't make sense to me, as Mexico is part of North America. But
> > that's what they said.
>
> Did they call you, or say that you were, 'Norto' ?
I don't recall a nick name. It only came up if I called myself an
American, and they said I was a North American.
Captain Button
So Mexicans haven't heard of Canada? (Assuming we're using the same
standards being applied to USonians).
--
Once is happenstance.
Twice is coincidence.
Four times is enemy action.
BOMB MARS NOW! [ Captain Button - but...@io.com ]
William December Starr
In article <42839f0a$0$72778$892e...@authen.white.readfreenews.net>,
"A Lamar" <alama...@aol.com> said:
> It's the 1961 story "The Tunnel Ahead" by Alice Glaser. Once you
> kind folks reminded me that a tunnel was involved (nothing like
> forgetting a central element), I was able to find it in a Google
> search. What a relief! Too bad the bet is off.
>
> Thank you very much -- you have made my day.
I don't know whether your research turned up a publication history.
In case it didn't, and you care, the ISFDB (see "Canned info about
some online sf indices" at the end of this article) says:
The Tunnel Ahead (1961)
* The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1961 (1961)
, Robert P. Mills , $0.40 , 132pp
* The 7th Annual of the Year's Best S-F (1962) , Judith Merril ,
Simon & Schuster , hc , $4.50 , 399pp
* As Tomorrow Becomes Today (1974) , Charles W. Sullivan ,
Prentice-Hall , tp
* Voyages: Scenarios for a Ship Called Earth (1971) , Rob Sauer ,
Ballantine , pb , #02185
and the Contento index concurs. Meanwhile, the Locus indices list
more recent reprints in:
o Urban Horrors, ed. William F. Nolan & Martin H.
Greenberg, Dark Harvest 1990
o Womanthology, ed. Forrest J Ackerman & Pam Keesey,
Sense of Wonder Press 2003
Canned info about some online sf indices:
-> The online Locus database covers 1984-1998; annual addenda cover
subsequent years. The main database and addenda can be found at:
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/0start.html#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr1999/0start.html#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2000/0start.htm#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2001/0start.htm#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2002/0start.htm#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2003/0start.htm#TOC>
<http://www.locusmag.com/index/yr2004/0start.htm#TOC>
(Yes, the suffix changed from "html" to "htm" starting with 2000.)
-> A related pre-1984 short story/novelette/novella database (known
to some as the Contento Index, after its compiler) is located at:
<http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/isfac/0start.htm>.
-> A very useful, different, resource is the Internet Speculative
Fiction DataBase (ISFDB) at <http://isfdb.tamu.edu>.
--
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
how...@brazee.net
On 17-May-2005, but...@io.com (Captain Button) wrote:
> >I don't recall a nick name. It only came up if I called myself an
> >American, and they said I was a North American.
>
> So Mexicans haven't heard of Canada? (Assuming we're using the same
> standards being applied to USonians).
Heck, if you conclude that, you should also conclude that they haven't heard
of Mexico.
Michael Stemper
>On Mon, 16 May 2005 00:16:19 +0000 (UTC), gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU (David Goldfarb) wrote:
>>>Simon Slavin <slavins.delete....@hearsay.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> Every newspaper in the UK is careful never to print 'American'
>>>> when they're explaining that someone is from one of the 51 States.
>>50 states plus the District of Columbia? Just a guess.
>
>I was wondering whether he meant DC or Puerto Rico.
Which puts me in mind of _Stand on Zanzibar_, in which Puerto Rico is
referred to as "Junior but one."
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Life's too important to take seriously.
Dave Goldman
of the U.S.A., sort of), there also "Norteamericano" was the standard term
for someone from the 50 states.
- Dave Goldman
Portland, OR
Dorothy J Heydt
Dave Goldman <da...@remove-this-bit-ResearchSoftwareDesign.com> wrote:
>Actually, many years ago when I spent a little time in Puerto Rico (part
>of the U.S.A., sort of), there also "Norteamericano" was the standard term
>for someone from the 50 states.
Is "gringo" still used for the same thing, as it was sometimes in
my day?
Dorothy J. Heydt
Albany, California
djh...@kithrup.com
Luke Webber
> In article <dave-17050...@ip21.128.du.eli.iinet.com>,
> Dave Goldman <da...@remove-this-bit-ResearchSoftwareDesign.com> wrote:
>
>>Actually, many years ago when I spent a little time in Puerto Rico (part
>>of the U.S.A., sort of), there also "Norteamericano" was the standard term
>>for someone from the 50 states.
>
>
> Is "gringo" still used for the same thing, as it was sometimes in
> my day?
And do they still have those droopy moustachios, sombreros and
bandoliers? ;^)
Luke
Dorothy J Heydt
Mike Schilling
"Luke Webber" <lu...@webber.com.au> wrote in message
news:428ae726$1...@news.melbourne.pipenetworks.com...
And really, really, fast mice.
Aaron Davies
I'm not sure "Norteamericano" should be translated as "North American",
given that "Americano" seems to mean "inhabitant of the *Americas*".
Perhaps "northern American" would be better. (It doesn't solve the
Canada problem, but it makes at least a little more sense.)
James Nicoll
Aaron Davies <aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid> wrote:
><how...@brazee.net> wrote:
>
>> On 17-May-2005, but...@io.com (Captain Button) wrote:
>>
>> > >I don't recall a nick name. It only came up if I called myself an
>> > >American, and they said I was a North American.
>> >
>> > So Mexicans haven't heard of Canada? (Assuming we're using the same
>> > standards being applied to USonians).
>>
>> Heck, if you conclude that, you should also conclude that they haven't heard
>> of Mexico.
>
>I'm not sure "Norteamericano" should be translated as "North American",
>given that "Americano" seems to mean "inhabitant of the *Americas*".
>Perhaps "northern American" would be better. (It doesn't solve the
>Canada problem, but it makes at least a little more sense.)
By a peculiar coincidence (I certainly can't any compelling
reason why it worked out this way) Canada and the USA map almost
exactly onto the Nearctican zoogeographical province while the
rest maps onto the Neotropical.
I suggest therefore that people who want to lump Canada and
the US in one group use "Nearctican".
The fact that I have never mentioned this to someone from
Latin America or Brazil will probably impede the spread of this idea
down there somewhat.
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
Michael S. Schiffer
news:1gwrdf6.jbaq5b13eh4amN%aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid
:
><how...@brazee.net> wrote:
>> On 17-May-2005, but...@io.com (Captain Button) wrote:
>> > >I don't recall a nick name. It only came up if I called
>> > >myself an American, and they said I was a North American.
>> > So Mexicans haven't heard of Canada? (Assuming we're using
>> > the same standards being applied to USonians).
>> Heck, if you conclude that, you should also conclude that they
>> haven't heard of Mexico.
> I'm not sure "Norteamericano" should be translated as "North
> American", given that "Americano" seems to mean "inhabitant of
> the *Americas*".
Can you point to some examples of the latter usage in Mexican
newspaper sites or other general sources?
One interesting data point: <http://www.yucca.com.mx/mundoen.html>
has a map of the company's distributors that identifes "Suramerica"
and "Centroamerica" as American English does "South America" and
"Central America", identifies "Norteamerica" as "North America minus
Mexico", and separates out Mexico. Other sites seem to have Mexico
as "Mesoamerica", separate from both "Centroamerica" and
"Norteamerica". On the other hand,
<http://redescolar.ilce.edu.mx/redescolar/publicaciones/publi_volcan
es/norteamerica.htm> includes Mexico as part of Norteamerica.
Aaron Davies
> aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid (Aaron Davies) wrote in
> news:1gwrdf6.jbaq5b13eh4amN%aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid
> :
>
> ><how...@brazee.net> wrote:
>
> >> On 17-May-2005, but...@io.com (Captain Button) wrote:
>
> >> > >I don't recall a nick name. It only came up if I called
> >> > >myself an American, and they said I was a North American.
>
> >> > So Mexicans haven't heard of Canada? (Assuming we're using
> >> > the same standards being applied to USonians).
>
> >> Heck, if you conclude that, you should also conclude that they
> >> haven't heard of Mexico.
>
> > I'm not sure "Norteamericano" should be translated as "North
> > American", given that "Americano" seems to mean "inhabitant of
> > the *Americas*".
>
> Can you point to some examples of the latter usage in Mexican
> newspaper sites or other general sources?
The Wikipedia article on South America claims "in all non-English
speaking regions of the world, America is a continent and North, Central
and South America are its subcontinents." I posted elsewhere about my
professor's question "what country has the tallest mountain in America".
I don't know enough Spanish to read Mexican newspapers. :)
how...@brazee.net
On 18-May-2005, Luke Webber <lu...@webber.com.au> wrote:
> And do they still have those droopy moustachios, sombreros and
> bandoliers? ;^)
And the only words that they don't know the English for are "yes" and
"mister".
how...@brazee.net
On 18-May-2005, jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
> By a peculiar coincidence (I certainly can't any compelling
> reason why it worked out this way) Canada and the USA map almost
> exactly onto the Nearctican zoogeographical province while the
> rest maps onto the Neotropical.
>
> I suggest therefore that people who want to lump Canada and
> the US in one group use "Nearctican".
Maybe Anglo-American, and include Bermuda.
how...@brazee.net
On 18-May-2005, aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid (Aaron Davies)
wrote:
> The Wikipedia article on South America claims "in all non-English
> speaking regions of the world, America is a continent and North, Central
> and South America are its subcontinents." I posted elsewhere about my
> professor's question "what country has the tallest mountain in America".
> I don't know enough Spanish to read Mexican newspapers. :)
So how may continents does the world say there are? What continents do the
Olympic rings stand for?
Hallvard B Furuseth
obWikipedia:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent> (English) and
<http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontinent> (Norwegian) both list the six
continents Eurasia, Africa, North and South America, Antarctica and
Australia. A Norwegian encyclopedia <http://www.caplex.no/> agrees.
In Norway, America (Amerika) is either USA or N+S America, depending on
context and who misunderstands whom. An American (amerikaner) is a
USAian except in a much narrower context: When you are already speaking
of people in America = N+S America. Or something like that, anyway.
--
Hallvard
Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate that.
Luke Webber
You forgot "bandit". <g>
Luke
how...@brazee.net
On 18-May-2005, Hallvard B Furuseth <h.b.fu...@usit.uio.no> wrote:
> > So how may continents does the world say there are? What continents
> > do the Olympic rings stand for?
>
> obWikipedia:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent> (English) and
> <http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontinent> (Norwegian) both list the six
> continents Eurasia, Africa, North and South America, Antarctica and
> Australia. A Norwegian encyclopedia <http://www.caplex.no/> agrees.
>
> In Norway, America (Amerika) is either USA or N+S America, depending on
> context and who misunderstands whom. An American (amerikaner) is a
> USAian except in a much narrower context: When you are already speaking
> of people in America = N+S America. Or something like that, anyway.
I wonder why Africa is separated, but the Americas aren't.
Wikipedia isn't yet my primary source.
The OED says we used to have 2 continents, but now 4 or 5 or 7. I was
always taught there were 7. What *is* South America? Half a continent?
It certainly fits the old definition better than Europe does.
James Nicoll
A large and growing portion of Canada cannot be described as Anglo.
Dave Goldman
wrote:
> In article <dave-17050...@ip21.128.du.eli.iinet.com>,
> Dave Goldman <da...@remove-this-bit-ResearchSoftwareDesign.com> wrote:
> >Actually, many years ago when I spent a little time in Puerto Rico (part
> >of the U.S.A., sort of), there also "Norteamericano" was the standard term
> >for someone from the 50 states.
>
> Is "gringo" still used for the same thing, as it was sometimes in
> my day?
At this distance of many years, I really can't recall one way or the other.
It certainly could be that "gringo" was a less polite term for 50-stater
(and I was sometimes hanging out with people who would have enjoyed being
less than polite), but I just can't remember whether it was used or not.
how...@brazee.net
On 18-May-2005, jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
> >Maybe Anglo-American, and include Bermuda.
>
> A large and growing portion of Canada cannot be described as Anglo.
Portions of Los Angeles can't either. But that's the basic culture of the
countries. We're talking stereotypes here and it balances "Latin
America".
James Nicoll
Any stereotype about Canada that doesn't include the French is
fatally flawed.
wth...@godzilla.acpub.duke.edu
> In article <yg%ie.3401$Lc1....@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
> <how...@brazee.net> wrote:
> >
> >On 18-May-2005, jdni...@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
> >
> >> >Maybe Anglo-American, and include Bermuda.
> >>
> >> A large and growing portion of Canada cannot be described as Anglo.
> >
> >Portions of Los Angeles can't either. But that's the basic culture of the
> >countries. We're talking stereotypes here and it balances "Latin
> >America".
>
> Any stereotype about Canada that doesn't include the French is
> fatally flawed.
Plantagenet America?
William Hyde
EOS Department
Duke University
Aaron Davies
Wikipedia says, in both "Americas" and "Olympic flag", that the rings
are usually mapped to Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
The IOC, AFICT, just says "the five continents", though they're very
concerned that we not try to identify any specific ring with a specific
continent.
Aaron Davies
Anthony Nance
Aaron Davies <aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid> wrote:
><how...@brazee.net> wrote:
>
>> On 18-May-2005, aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid (Aaron Davies)
>> wrote:
>>
>> > The Wikipedia article on South America claims "in all non-English
>> > speaking regions of the world, America is a continent and North, Central
>> > and South America are its subcontinents." I posted elsewhere about my
>> > professor's question "what country has the tallest mountain in America".
>> > I don't know enough Spanish to read Mexican newspapers. :)
>>
>> So how may continents does the world say there are? What continents do
>> the Olympic rings stand for?
>
>Wikipedia says, in both "Americas" and "Olympic flag", that the rings
>are usually mapped to Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
>The IOC, AFICT, just says "the five continents", though they're very
>concerned that we not try to identify any specific ring with a specific
>continent.
Maybe the latter is a reaction to how much maps, flags, and political
sensitivities have changed; but it's possible the colors and continents
were never officially paired as such, too.
30-35 years ago, say, much was "known" about the colors. The five
colors were chosen because they were somewhere in the flag of every
nation in the world. Particular color-continent identifications[1]
were "known" to be:
- Blue representing Europe
- Black representing Africa
- Red representing the Americas
- Yellow representing Asia
- Green representing Australia (Oceania)
Apologies for using "known" twice, btw, but when you're a kid, you don't
realize that a lot more adults talk out of their hats than that kidder
Uncle Ed and the weird guy down the street you're suppposed to avoid.
(i.e. Even though I'd heard this from adults, it could be hogwash.)
I'm already reserving one of my old-fogey-uphill-both-ways stories to
be about the gathering and transmission of information before the days
of the internet and world wide web.
Tony
[1] Amongst my peers, there were various competing theories for how
those colors came to be identified with those continents. None
of them held enough water to sway anyone, even at that age.
Mike Schilling
"Anthony Nance" <na...@math.ohio-state.edu> wrote in message
news:d6is4u$24t$1...@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu...
> Maybe the latter is a reaction to how much maps, flags, and political
> sensitivities have changed; but it's possible the colors and continents
> were never officially paired as such, too.
>
> 30-35 years ago, say, much was "known" about the colors. The five
> colors were chosen because they were somewhere in the flag of every
> nation in the world. Particular color-continent identifications[1]
> were "known" to be:
> - Blue representing Europe
> - Black representing Africa
> - Red representing the Americas
> - Yellow representing Asia
> - Green representing Australia (Oceania)
>
> Apologies for using "known" twice, btw, but when you're a kid, you don't
> realize that a lot more adults talk out of their hats than that kidder
> Uncle Ed and the weird guy down the street you're suppposed to avoid.
> (i.e. Even though I'd heard this from adults, it could be hogwash.)
>
> I'm already reserving one of my old-fogey-uphill-both-ways stories to
> be about the gathering and transmission of information before the days
> of the internet and world wide web.
>
> Tony
> [1] Amongst my peers, there were various competing theories for how
> those colors came to be identified with those continents. None
> of them held enough water to sway anyone, even at that age.
Yellow, red, and black suggest race.
how...@brazee.net
On 19-May-2005, aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid (Aaron Davies)
wrote:
> Wikipedia says, in both "Americas" and "Olympic flag", that the rings
> are usually mapped to Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
> The IOC, AFICT, just says "the five continents", though they're very
> concerned that we not try to identify any specific ring with a specific
> continent.
It seems weird to me to say Europe is a continent and South America isn't.
But the English have been referring to "the continent" for ages.
Mark Atwood
>
> It seems weird to me to say Europe is a continent and South America isn't.
> But the English have been referring to "the continent" for ages.
For that matter, if Europe is a continent, so is India.
--
Mark Atwood When you do things right, people won't be sure
m...@mark.atwood.name you've done anything at all.
http://mark.atwood.name/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/fallenpegasus
Mike Schilling
"Mark Atwood" <m...@mark.atwood.name> wrote in message
news:m28y2ar...@amsu.fallenpegasus.com...
> how...@brazee.net writes:
>>
>> It seems weird to me to say Europe is a continent and South America
>> isn't.
>> But the English have been referring to "the continent" for ages.
>
> For that matter, if Europe is a continent, so is India.
Moreso, I'd think. India is a different plate.
.
Peter Bruells
> how...@brazee.net writes:
> >
> > It seems weird to me to say Europe is a continent and South America isn't.
> > But the English have been referring to "the continent" for ages.
>
> For that matter, if Europe is a continent, so is India.
Which is at least usually - at least of here - being refered to as a
"subcontinent".
Which only shows that "natural borders" do not neccessarily are
sensible "cultutal borders." After all, parts of Africa belong to the
European Union and Hawaii's part of America.
Anthony Nance
Mike Schilling <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>"Anthony Nance" <na...@math.ohio-state.edu> wrote in message
>news:d6is4u$24t$1...@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu...
>
>> Maybe the latter is a reaction to how much maps, flags, and political
>> sensitivities have changed; but it's possible the colors and continents
>> were never officially paired as such, too.
>>
>> 30-35 years ago, say, much was "known" about the colors. The five
>> colors were chosen because they were somewhere in the flag of every
>> nation in the world. Particular color-continent identifications[1]
>> were "known" to be:
>> - Blue representing Europe
>> - Black representing Africa
>> - Red representing the Americas
>> - Yellow representing Asia
>> - Green representing Australia (Oceania)
>>
>>
>> [1] Amongst my peers, there were various competing theories for how
>> those colors came to be identified with those continents. None
>> of them held enough water to sway anyone, even at that age.
>
>Yellow, red, and black suggest race.
>
Yep - that was one of the more persistent theories, although
blue and green remained problematic. One creative guy decided
blue represented blue blood, so Europe made sense (to him).
Even he never explained green.
Another one was the claim that most/all of the country flags on
each continent contained said color - say, most or all of the
flags in the Americas contain red. Of course, there are many
holes in this one too, green not being the least. One can
quickly check http://www.plcmc.org/forkids/mow/default.asp
Even allowing for changes in flags since that time, there
are holes a plenty.
Tony
Simon Slavin
<1gwstk9.10bfla71r1z1s0N%aa...@avalon.pascal-central.com.invalid>:
> Wikipedia says, in both "Americas" and "Olympic flag", that the rings
> are usually mapped to Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
> The IOC, AFICT, just says "the five continents", though they're very
> concerned that we not try to identify any specific ring with a specific
> continent.
Bear in mind that the last thing that the Olympic Committee wants is
to have versions of their logo going around with one ring larger
than the other, or with four rings of one colour and one ring of
another colour. Remember Hitler in 1936.
Simon.
--
Using pre-release version of newsreader.
Please tell me if it does weird things.
Joe Bernstein
Mike Schilling <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> "Mark Atwood" <m...@mark.atwood.name> wrote in message
> news:m28y2ar...@amsu.fallenpegasus.com...
> > For that matter, if Europe is a continent, so is India.
> Moreso, I'd think. India is a different plate.
Um, so's Europe, last I heard. Well, disregarding extras like Italy.
Anyone else notice that the reference upthread to six continents,
including Europe, Africa, North and South America, Australia, and
Antarctica, was missing the gorilla in the corner? It took me
about half a dozen more posts before I realised that the poster
(or at least Wikipedia) did *not* intend to call each America a
continent. (Which, of course, tectonically speaking, each is.)
ObSF: Derned if I can think of one. I don't read enough of that
far, far, future stuff. But I wonder when California will
accumulate enough other stuff to qualify as a continent again,
if divorce from North America really is in its future...
Joe Bernstein
--
Joe Bernstein, writer j...@sfbooks.com
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