I'm only topping because Italiaphile has abandoned his/her own thread. Style points to Italiaphile for getting us all hooked on nothing here.
And, this thread has reached #48 again.

Here's how it works much of the time: (1) you post a question about travel, then (2) everyone else in the English-speaking world tries to think of some smart-ass reply that belittles you, demonstrates that they're a cultured world-traveler and, for extra credit, denigrates the United States in general and the Bush Administration in particular.

FlyFish - You put into words exactly what I've been think all along. There must be something wrong with me. I expect a travel forum to actually discuss travel and to give me useful information. Thank God I don't bump into some of these snobs when I do travel.