www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I just have to throw my two cents into this discussion: Everyone here with very few exceptions seems to have without question accepted the original premise. I don't. I lived in France during the absolute lowest point in relations between our government and the Chirac government. My French is far from fluent and I was often referred to as 'Anglais' (the French refer to almost everyone that speaks English as English) and I never failed to correct them and was always treated well. Prior to that, very prior to that I lived in Stockholm, Sweden during the Bertrand Russell Vietnam War Tribunals (yeah I'm an old geezer) and I was always well treated. During that time (the heigth of the Cold War) I spent a lot of time in Warsaw Pact countries and the USSR and was never badly treated by the regular citizens of any of those countries. After that it was several years in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK and I was never treated poorly. I really do not believe that the world is Xenophobic or that their American tourist is as a whole a lout. If any thing American tourists behave better than German tourists in Europe and often German tourists are the butt of jokes by Europeans. Lastly, I have never met a European that gives a didly squat what we think of who they elect. The one generalization I wil make about Americans is that we seem to care too much what others think of us, but what they may think of us as a nation has never impacted on me in regard to how I have been treated as an American.

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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

I've been to many countries and if I may generalize, Id say that most folks like Americans and many aspects of our culture. That said, they frequently dislike some of our policies and politics. Discussions with folks in other countries are usually interesting and very thought provoking.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

Someone indicated early-on in this thread that as Americans we should accept part of the responsibility for the outcome of the 2000 election, inferring that we elected the president therefore the outcomes of that administration are our responsibility.

In evaluating the concept of electorate responsibility, one needs to consider that the 2000 election was in fact decided by the Supreme Court, not by the voters.

Ah but the voters voted for the men who put the Supreme Court in place. Therefore it is still the voters fault. 8^)

PS I chose not to vote this time, looks like they did _much_ better without my help.

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"Believe none of what you read, and half of what you see." Old Island Woman

You have a point.

The vote went smoothly enough, but I notice that since I left California for good in late 2005, all hell has broken loose. Housing prices are diving off a cliff and the state is on the verge of bankruptcy. The stock markets are crashing and unemployment is up. You can call it coincidence if you like, but I prefer to think they should have tried to induce me to stay.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Bilko – I am in California today. The gas prices are down substantially from last summer. I paid $2.19 per gallon at Costco today. The prices of homes are in the tank especially in the former boom areas like Riverside and San Bernardino counties. I was in Las Vegas a few days ago and the housing market was even worse.

Mervyn's a fairly good sized department chain is going out of business and so many mom-and-pop businesses are shuttered.

I took an alternate course this election with the same net effect as C. O Jones--figuring the winning candidate was going to sweep NJ, I voted my conscience--along with 2000 other New Jerseyans. Alas, not quite enough to put Ralph Nader over the top. This is not a political statement because he is, if anything, anti-political. And, no, he didn't cost any previous candidate anything in any previous election. Then as now, he was just out there telling the truth as he saw it. Little chance of him pulling a Winston Churchill routine. More's the pity and we're the lesser for it.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED