9/21    The Czech Republic is not a third world nation.  It is a
        developing nation with $11700 per capita GDP, growth rate of -0.5%
        (1999), and an external debt of 24.3 billion.  USA's per capita
        GDP is $33900.  Malaysia's per capita GDP is $10700.

        international no-car day!  see http://www.carbusters.ecn.cz
        \_ *.cz?  Like they'd miss their cars for a day in the Czech republic.
           I'd like to see something like International Fix Your Fucked Up
           Third World Country Day coming from a place like that instead.
           \_ Do you know your geography? The Czech republic is a modern
              European nation. Just because it's considered Eastern Europe
              doesn't mean that it's a Third World country.
                \_ It's not a third world country.  It's just a poor,
                   decrepit ex-Soviet-bloc nation suffering from 40+ years
                   of commie mismanagement.  Otherwise, quite nice.  -John
                   \_ What's the definition of third world then?  I thought
                      "thrid world" is the PC term to describe poor countries.
                        \_ "First" or "Old" World = Europe.  Don't forget that
                           Bohemia/western Czechoslovakia/Czech republic has
                           historically been a political and cultural center.
                           "New" World = Americas.  "Third" World was some
                           mid-20th-century play on that to describe all
                           the second-rate backwaters discovered afterwards
                           with economic problems.  -John
                           \_ % webster "first world"
                              [deletia]
                              Etymology:      after third world
                              Date:   1967
                              : the highly developed industrialized nations
                              often considered the westernized countries of
                              the world
                              apart from getting the order of usage wrong (i.e.
                              third world -> first world rather than the other
                              way around) and being ignorantly eurocentric,
                              you're correct.
              \_ then it doesn't sound like he has a problem with geography,
                 does it? it's more of an economics deficiency he has.
                 \_ No deficiency.  Have you seen it?  I think you need to
                    check on what the word "modern" means.  CZ is a third
                    world country.  Just because they're vaguely white doesn't
                    make it a modern western nation.  They're little different
                    from any South American banana republic.  It isn't just
                    blacks, hispanics and other non-whites that live in the
                    Third World.  Thank you both for trying though.
                    \_ Have you ever travelled outside the Bay Area?  -John
        \_ Nobody noticed.  Some cities had even worse traffic.  Barely
           anyone even knew it was happening until they heard on the news
           what a flop it was this evening.  -John
           \_ Cars are here to stay (at least until transporters become
              generally available).
        \_ Chech know a thing or two about mechanical engineering and cars.
        Pop quiz: which Western car compay buy out entire Tatra design team,
        why they did it and what they are working on now?
        As far as being 'vaguely' white which I take as they don't quite
        fit a canonical definition of white, how to do explain
        disproporationate representation of Czech chicks among the ranks
        of 'supermodels'?       -muchandr
        \_ Volkswagen, right?  They bought Skoda too.  -John
               \_ Volkswagen is a joke. In fact all european cars are jokes.
                  The only car manufacturers that matter are American and
                  Japanese. With Japanese you get quality, with American you
                  get power. - Proud owner of a 260 HP Lincoln that routinely
                  smokes the finest that Europe has to offer.
           \_ that proves they are 'vaguely'! Per the current fashion trend
           \_ When was the last time you bought a Czech car?  I don't see
              many trambant dealers around.
                \_ Moron.  Trabants were East German and they're a massive
                   cult object (like VW bugs.)  Tatra were/are a Russian truck
                   design bureau.  And Skoda (Czech) is about as big as
                   Saturn in the US.  -John
        \_ Czech supermodels are hot and slutty.