OT:US don't qualify for EU membership, don't spank children, WW2 history.

[Fyron]

It could be noted at this time that, had the USA not rebelled against the British yoke, slavery would have been banished at an earlier date. This may have reduced the construction of the American industrial giant, but that too is another arguement...

Slavery had nothing to do with the construction of the American industrial giant. ALL of the slave states had very poor industrial facilities, as they were primarily agricultural. The colonies/states that became heavy industrial centers made very little use of slavery, and abolished it early on in their statehoods. This is what allowed the North to win the US Civil War; they had a powerful industrial base, whereas the South had almost none. The Confederacy only Lasted as long as it did due to their excellent military leadership compared to the poor leadership of the Union armies up until Grant.

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
More likely they'll be paved over, unfortunatly. It doesn't help that the various legislatures are too often run by idiots.

Problem is that national parks are run by the Federal government and not state governments, so idiots in state legislatures can't pave them over. Of course, the idiots in the Federal legislature could, but that is far less likely because of the need to get legislators from at least half of the states to agree to paving over any particular national park.

[ September 09, 2003, 19:21: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]