McCain treating Obama like a used tissue during the debates.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:02 pm

I think we differ in concepts of what it means to be a nation. My view doesn't include "incarnations of government" but rather "how long has the nation been dominated by any form of unified government".
Native American tribes don't count; they were as fractious as Bible Belt Protestant minichurches. Still are.

Koumei wrote:Pfft, Australia is younger, and settled by criminals!

Oh, I know. There's certain advantages to that.. such as the typical Australian sense of humor.
Probably not far off, having descended partially from Irish drunkards.

Bigode · Post by **Bigode** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:40 am

sigma999 wrote:Native American tribes don't count; they were as fractious as Bible Belt Protestant minichurches. Still are.

I'd be willing to bet there were stable areas as large as many an European country. Not much good to say on technology AFAIK, though.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:39 am

sigma999 wrote:Native American tribes don't count; they were as fractious as Bible Belt Protestant minichurches. Still are.

Wow, we have a board member who has intimate knowledge of the affairs of all remaining Amerindian groups and is over 200 years old. Amazing!

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:25 am

Crissa wrote:I doubt in oz when you actually get to the hospital they tell you the price for reattaching those limbs, and make you choose which ones you'll ditch because you don't have the credit for the procedure.

Better than US health care to be sure. Its just that thats really faint praise.

Absentminded_Wizard · Post by **Absentminded_Wizard** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:05 am

Bigode wrote:
sigma999 wrote:Native American tribes don't count; they were as fractious as Bible Belt Protestant minichurches. Still are.
I'd be willing to bet there were stable areas as large as many an European country. Not much good to say on technology AFAIK, though.

Well, the Iriquois Confederacy controlled most of upstate New York in colonial times. There probably are European countries smaller than that. Especially since Andorra is a European country.

Bigode · Post by **Bigode** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:29 pm

Absentminded_Wizard wrote:Well, the Iriquois Confederacy controlled most of upstate New York in colonial times. There probably are European countries smaller than that. Especially since Andorra is a European country.

Since I don't know the size of upstate New York, I can't be sure, but I probably overestimated it if the comparison country's Andorra ...

ckafrica · Post by **ckafrica** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:08 pm

The sign at the border to Andorra says "welcome to Andorra" on both sides.

IT's not even the smallest country in Europe either. Vatican, Monaco, Lichtenstein, that other one in Italy. The Channel Islands.

Remember in the new world, 200 years is a long time. In the old world 200 miles is a long way.