Hi Old Bull,

thanks for the comments, I've re-read your original post and realise that I may have been a bit hasty. It is a common problem that we are all prey to at some time or another, using the term "American' indiscriminately to mean both the American continent and the political construct of the US. (I know it annoys the hell out of Canadians). So if you were using the term in it's narrow sense to mean an art form indiginous to the USA rather than to the part of the land mass that it occupies or any political construct which preceeded it, then I would think your assertion is correct.

Just shows you have to be bloody careful about your terminology if you want to be 'authentic' ;-)

OK thats my bout of pedantry for today.

Pete M

PS I also realise that you may not be familiar with the "Hitch hikers Guide" and so have taken my comment as being rather more acerbic than I intended.