Frank, here was my reply to you.

Hi Frank,
Ditto to Don's question above - by the way for the sake of privacy you do not have
to answer any personal questions - sometimes that is best on a semi-public board
like this. Perhaps you could just tell us if you are professional or amateur in the field.
I'm not sure what the point of your e-mail is - what are you driving at? There are
a lot of high-tech groups in Europe - don't forget that Europe will soon be a super-power
in the world and that there are nearly twice as many people there as in the U.S. Seems
a lot of centers of things are or will be located on that continent.
Since I have two siblings which call themselves Europeans, I guess I have no
objections to seeing Europe an equal partner with the U.S in scientific matters.

By the way, welcome to the clubhouse. It is usually comfortably warm here, but
sometimes it can get a bit hot and stuffy. Bring a change of clothes for those
occasions.