Funny message in a clothing label.

Apparently, US Christian conservatives want to have the US Constitution amended to prohibit gay marriage. They'd like to see an amendment preventing consenting adults from legally committing to each other right alongside freedom of speech, abolishing slavery and granting women's suffrage.

National Geographic does a series of surveys of 18-24 year olds in America to test their geographical knowledge. I don't think any of us would be shocked to learn that its pretty abysmal.

What do you think are the odds of the United States disuniting in our lifetimes?

The US Senate just took a vote on whether to amend the constitution so that flag-burning could be banned. It failed by one vote.

In 1776, the American people became so fed up with the injustices of their ruler, King George, that they decided to become independent and tell him to sod off. They felt it was a good idea to set out in writing their reasoning for this act, and so Thomas Jefferson drafted up a Declaration of Independence.

I don't generally go in for conspiracy theories, but one thing surrounding the 9/11 attacks has always bothered me.

My trip to Texas is all booked. I leave here on the 9th of December at 9pm and arrive in Dallas three hours before that :)

"We are pressing Iraq's leaders to take bold measures to save their country. We're making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited," Mr Bush said (in the Herald today).

Not long to go now until the mid-term elections. Here's some predictions from Electoral Vote Predictor:

These are just some of the patriotic posters brought to you by whitehouse.org.

A while back, Ebs posted about how he used to be an American fanboy. I wouldn't put my feelings that strongly, but I've had a great respect for the principles on which America was founded. I suspect that this respect for America comes mainly from reading way too many Louis L'Amour cowboy books.

Well, I'm off to Texas for a few weeks.

I'm baaaack! Actually I've been back for a couple of weeks now but things have been so incredibly busy that I haven't had a chance to post.

Here's some of the highlights of my trip:

This page lists and links to my favourite photos from my US trip. These don't necessarily correspond to the places I enjoyed the most.

Steve has already posted a trip log covering Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Las Vegas, so I won't duplicate his effort here. Instead, I just want to jot down some random observations and thoughts about American culture. To me, American culture seems to have about three major components: food, shopping & TV. This post will cover the food.

This post continues my series on American culture. I have already dealt with American food, this post is on shopping, and TV is still to come.

This post continues my series on American culture. I have already dealt with American food and shopping, and this post is about TV. I have a few random observations mostly concerning driving still to come.

This post wraps up my series on American culture. I have already dealt with American food, shopping, and TV. This post is mostly concerned with roads and driving.