From: user@example.net   
      
   Aragorn wrote:   
   > J.O. Aho wrote:   
   >> Aragorn wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> Considering that spam is also illegal in the USA - I don't know about   
   >>> Nigeria,   
   >> Those Nigerian scams are illegal in Nigeria, but you can unofficially pay   
   >> a fee and you will not get disturbed by the police, so the money scammed   
   >> in a way builds up the Nigerian state wealth, but then you have the   
   >> problem that the money will in the end only benefit the top elite and not   
   >> the poor on the streets.   
   > I take it you are referring to those e-mails from Nigerian con artists who   
   > pretend to be some African millionaire or royalty person and who are   
   > seeking the help of us Europeans to help liberate their blocked funds from   
   > an overseas bank for some extra pocket money? ;-)   
      
   Yeah, those are quite common scams over there, heard rumors that people had   
   been foolish and trying to get their money back traveling there and never to   
   return.   
      
      
   > Well, Nigeria is a very corrupt country, with very mideval law, and I'm sure   
   > they're not the only such country in Africa.   
      
   I wouldn't agree on that, they are based on British Law, but corruption   
   prevents the law to work well and the introduction of sharia "law" in areas   
   with muslim majority.   
      
      
   > A few years ago, I received an e-mail with an appeal to sign a petition -   
   > via a website - to save the life of a young Nigerian unwed mother.  If I   
   > recall correctly, then Nigeria is ruled under the Sharia - i.e. Muslim law   
   > - and the woman was going to be executed by stoning over the charges of   
   > "adultery".  The exact procedure was that she would be buried in the sand   
   > entirely up to her neck and that the crowd would then be throwing stones at   
   > her head until she were to die.   
      
   Quite many governments where involved in persuade the Nigerian government to   
   stop the execution. If I recall it right, she was Christian and shouldn't be   
   concerned by the sharia "laws" in the first place.   
      
      
   >> Yes, there are a lot of those, I noticed an increase of spam from Russia,   
   >> or really spam attempts that are stopped at my SMTP, but still USA tops   
   >> the list by far. In the official stats China is soon to passing USA in   
   >> sending out spam, but the Chinese government has started to hunt down   
   >> spammers, if we are lucky we could see a decline of Chinese spam in the   
   >> near future.   
   > with the   
   > sole difference that it can be filtered out and redirected to my Trash   
   > folder more easily by my e-mail client - but most of it seems to come from   
   > the USA.   
      
   This reminds me about some people at the sendmail newsgroup, they ask for "how   
   can I block none US e-mails" and they do not believe in facts that they would   
   get a lot less spam if they would do the other way around.   
      
      
   > In addition, there seems to be a stronger interest in "having the biggest   
   > penis" - both literally and politically - in the United States than in any   
   > other nation I know, and as Americans typically think that the whole world   
   > shares their interests and convictions, this would explain why they presume   
   > that we all feel frustrated about the size of our genitals.   
      
   Maybe it also has to do with the fact that the majority of boys in US has got   
   it cut for no other reason than to allow doctors to earn some extra bucks.   
      
      
   > If you look at the military training of the US Marines, US Navy Seals and   
   > other American elite troops for instance in comparison to non-US military   
   > training - I have had to serve in the military myself between 1983 and 1984   
   > due to drafting, which was only abolished here in Belgium in 1994 - then   
   > you see very a strong emphasis on masculinity during what Americans call   
   > Boot Camp, where newly enlisted recruits are being being bullied and   
   > humiliated by their drill sergeants, and have to prove their manhood.   
      
   I'm not impressed by the US forces, even if they are claimed to be the best,   
   the military doctors are happy to hand out painkillers that are light form of   
   drugs, if you take part of the Nijmegen March, just go to a US army doctor and   
   complain about your feet hurting and they will just hand you a package of   
   pills and remind you that if it's not enough come and fetch some more when you   
   run out. A friend of mine walked a whole day without noticing that he was   
   filling his boots with blood.   
      
      
   > Similarly, during the Vietnam War, the American Air Force dropped a load of   
   > huge-sized condoms over the Vietnamese jungle, with the intent of having   
   > the Viet Cong find them, thinking that they were intended for the US troops   
   > stationed there, and subsequently becoming imbued with fear over "the size"   
   > of Americans.  Although such things are generally muffled very well by the   
   > US authorities, this is actually a historical fact.   
      
   :)   
      
      
   > and on   
   > the other hand you see that the USA are one of the most censoring countries   
   > in the Western World.   
   > Not even the British BBC replaces cusses with beeps anymore, but when I'm   
   > watching things like "American Hotrod"   
      
   I haven't understood the meaning with the beeps, everyone knows what the   
   person is saying and hears the words in their mind and somehow you will   
   remember those "words" a lot better than if you really had heard them in the   
   first place. Maybe it's for we haven't had that kind of censoring in the   
   Fenno-Scandinavia during my lifetime.   
      
      
   > "damn", "f*ck", "sh*t" or "*sshole", there's a beep - strangely enough not   
   > when the word "bitch" is used, though.  And I hate having to read subtitles   
   > when I don't need to. ;-)   
      
   That reminds me, I'm so used to reading subtitles that I read those whenever   
   there is one, sometimes there are programs with two different languages in the   
   subtitle and you still understand the spoken language, you read the first   
   language and then the second one, so you get everything three times :)   
      
      
   > [2] For our American friends here on Usenet, European taxing, European high   
   > fuel pricing and dense road infrastructure have caused most of the people   
   > over here to opt for diesel-powered cars,   
      
   It's not true in all parts of Europe, look at Sweden, the majority of cars use   
   petrol/gasoline, this for higher taxing on diesel cars than petrol ones, and   
   then the price difference is only 5 euro-cents.   
   But centenary to USA people try to have low petrol using cars.   
      
      
   --   
      
      //Aho   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)