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Dahling Sweety Dahling...oops sorry, wrong show..
Through personal experience over the years, I have come to realise that the bulk (not all) of Americans are incredibly insular to the point of being lamentably ignorant of anything outside their nation's borders.
An American once asked my mother what part of England she was from. My mother replied that she was Australian. "Is that in the south of England?" was the American's query.
Whilst I was a tour guide in Far North Qld. I was telling a young American boy about Tasmanian Devils. His mother admonished me for telling fibs - everyone knows that the Tasmanian Devil is just a cartoon character!
Last year when I was in the US for 2 weeks, I watched a fair bit of CNN. You were told about one of two things - Hurricane Katrina's aftermath or the interview with a man who wanted to become the Cheif High Court Judge (whatever the highest judge's title is). I heard NO overseas news at all.
It is these things and others which lead me to my original statement. I could not honestly care less about how insular a group of people are, however, this group just happens to be a world super power. Scary enough but what really annoyed me about last night's ID debate was something George Negus said right at the begining. About 100 Australian schools are teaching this drivel (ok..."drivel" is my word). I would dearly love to hear more about this Australian aspect.
Thankfully ID and astronomy don't mix but it does make one wonder about the broader implications of science teachings.
And I could tell you some scary stories from working in a planetarium!
Peter.
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