stussy_demon, I will concede that I think your beliefs are not without some basis. I have traveled in the US a lot, and in general they seem to be incredibly egocentric, and amazingly ignorant about the rest of the world. Their education system, and culture in general, seem to value competitive pursuits like sports more than intellectual ones. Yah, they are very competitive, even with each other. Money and showy status symbols are the gods they worship there. Los Angeles makes me shake my head every time I go there. Everybody seems to spend all there money on over-the-top things to impress each other. On the other hand, most people I meet seem to be really warm and friendly and not arrogant. Just really competitive ignorant friendly people. And about the global warming and CO2 thing, the US has correctly stated that its India and China that are the biggest threats to the global environment in this regard. The number of coal fired power plants they are building right now is incredible, and they were exempt from the Kyoto accord. That is why the US objected. Their growth in autos on the road is the fasted in the world. They will easily surpass the US in Co2 emissions if they haven't already.