This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Meta Four: Any objections to renaming this Useful Notes On The United States Of America or Useful Notes On The USA? I'm from the US, even I know that America is the continent, not the country, sheesh. And I'd prefer to avoid potential confusion/annoyance.
Kaybor: We could always have two indexes- Useful Notes On The United States, and Useful Notes On The Americas, for all the countries on both continents.
Meta Four: Done. The United States and The Americas.
Mr Death: I'm dying to put this image
◊ somewhere on here, but I can't think of a place it would fit.
Silent Hunter: Anyone here think, in light of tomorrow (20 January 2009), we need a new picture?
Meta Four: Yup. I think Mr Death's picture would be good.
BritBllt: Removing this bit from the opening...
but suffers from its economy being considerably underwritten by China
That's such a prevalent conservative talking point, and a controversial political issue within the United States, that having such a line at all toes the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgement: it's kinda like having a footnote that reads "but suffers from a pro-socialist Congress trying to undermine the Constitution".
But regardless, here's the statistics from The Other Wiki and the U.S. Treasury's website. About 27% of the U.S. national debt is held by foreign investors, and out of that, about 23% is held by China. So that's roughly 25% of 25%, so about ... 1/16th of the national debt. Seriously, that's not "considerably underwritten" at all, at least not enough to have it in the very top description as one of the defining traits of the nation.
Antigone2: Just wondering if there's enough fiction set in the Prohibition era to rate a Useful Note about it. (I can write it easily enough. But my reading preferences are oddball enough that I'm not sure there's need for it.)
