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Oi moi. I love Koine, and in the ancient world you're certainly right (although I don't think it's quite as important as you say it is in the West by the time of Charlemagne), but Latin would still be a better tool for the job today. Latin's influence (including through Vulgar Latin) and language communities far exceed those of Greek; English has far more Latin than Greek (some estimates say as much as 70% of Classical Latin roots could be found in English somewhere once), and 2168 million people speak English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese, and hence would be well-equipped to interpret words from a Latin root; Greek today cannot claim more than a fifth of that in influence (even generously counting Russian as heavily Greek-influenced), and, anyway, the meanings of the words have changed much more dramatically.

But, who knows. Maybe deleterion would carry better in a few hundred thousand years than virus. We'll find out, I guess?

"Kill a few raghead babies"

You've underestimated that. The U.S. government has bombed or invaded 24 countries since the 2nd world war. The U.S. government has killed or caused the deaths of more than 11,000,000 people since then. In some ways, the U.S. government is the most violent government that has ever existed.

The killing was done for profit. See the article, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA.

When you talk about the U.S. government, don't say we. They would kill you, too, if there was money in it.

The UN was even going to impose sanctions, but the US vetoed it -- protecting their ally.

Do you have a source for that? The first list I found of USA Vetoes in the UN doesn't list anything relating to condemning Iraqi gas attacks.

English is the lingua franca, so from a business standpoint, if you want to be an engineer type dude, you are probably set.

Chinese would be smart if you want to make more money learning a foreign language, so is Arabic. Russian is damn hard, but that would greatly increase your marketability as well. Like if you want to be a consultant or something later on.

If you want to learn a language for the hell of it, I'd recommend a romance language. Pick one that seems interesting, French and Italian are very pretty sounding. IMHO, German is very cool from a logical standpoint, many words are simply conjugations of smaller words.

Here is a list of the 30 most spoken languages: http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html

Protest: Your recounting of the story left out the most important details.

1) The CIA, a secret organization, acted in a hidden way to interfere with the political operation of a sovereign nation.

2) The hidden, sneaky U.S. government action had ONE purpose: To help private groups, oil companies, make more profit.

3) The Iranians elected President Mossadegh in a democratic manner, believing they had some control over the political future of their country. The U.S. government's secret departments destroyed their democracy, only to help private groups in the U.S. and the U.K. make more money.

4) The people of the U.S. believed that they had democratic control over the future of their country. However, the secret agencies of the U.S. government acted, and continue to act, in the interest of private groups, completely without the knowledge of, and against the wishes of, the people of the United States.

5) The people of Iranian paid heavily for the U.S. government's action. They had to live under a dictator that was often violent toward them, and who stole their money for himself.

6) The people of the U.S. paid heavily for the U.S. government's action. The U.S. government's violent actions toward Arabs and Muslims are the reason for the present violence. The CIA calls that "blowback". Blowback is viewed favorably inside the CIA, because if there are more negative consequences of U.S. government action, there is more money for the CIA and for promotions inside the CIA.

7) The hidden actions of the U.S. government in Iran were the beginning of a new, much larger level of corruption inside the U.S. government.

8) This behavior continued and continues intensely. See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA.

You said, "... to remove a man contrary to our interests ..."

Did YOU make money from the action? If you didn't, then don't use the word "our".

My grandparent comment was intended to be completely relevant. It seems to me that what a person does affects that person's ability to rest and the quality of rest. Sleep is one kind of rest.

To me, this is the whole issue: Does what you do in your life, the way you live your life, affect your ability to sleep? It seems to me it does, and that there is plenty of evidence that it does.

You said: "... I resent the implication that killing people leads to damaging a person mentally."

I've studied the issue a long time, and to me it seems true that killing other people, or helping kill them, causes thought process degradation. One woman told me, "After the men returned [from the 2nd world war] they were never the same." That seems to me to fit the observable facts.

I'm not saying anything that should cause resentment. I'm stating an opinion, an opinion that seems to fit the facts. For me it is an issue of logic only. I am certainly not against you; I believe I am on the side of anyone who wants to be healthy. I am not suggesting anything that would promote violence or even anger. The sole issue for me is whether what I say fits the facts, or not.

You said: "... choose to serve our country..."

When Saudis attack, invade Iraq? The war was started by people whose families, friends, and business associates are oil and weapons investors. Their purpose was to have a way to act out their anger, apparently, and to make more profit. The weapons investors, and their particular kind of oil investor, did not like the lessening budget for war after the breakup of the Soviet Union. They wanted a long-term war. The way the invasion was conducted made sure that Iraqis who were against being invaded had plenty of explosives and weapons.

If the deaths caused by destabilization are counted, the U.S. government has been responsible for the deaths of an estimated 9 to 12 million people since the end of the second world war. The U.S. government has bombed or invaded 25 countries since then. See the Wikipedia entry: List of United States military history events.

You said: "... neither I nor any of my coworkers kill anyone. We are intelligence analysts, providing strategic guidance to GEN Petraeus."

If you are participating in the Iraq war, you are helping kill. You are helping destabilize the entire region around Iraq. You are damaging the reputation of the U.S. government. You are helping Arabs and Muslims who say that the U.S. government is violent, corrupt, and should be attacked. Violence breeds violence. The 2nd war with Iraq has now killed more U.S. citizens than the World Trade Center bombers, and, according to respected statistical studies, more Iraqis than Saddam Hussein. If you didn't have the excuse of war, you would be an accessory to murder.

The general violence and support for violence seems to be a contributing factor to the people in the U.S. not being able to sleep. That theory may or not be correct, but it is not a radical theory; people often make statements that show they think that.

The alternative is to say that actions have no consequences, that what you do has no effect on your mental health. I don't think anyone truly thinks that alternative fits the facts.

If you need more support for what I said about the Iraq war, see, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.

For one example of profiting from violence, read How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power or

The cause of the violence is people who have control over the U.S. government wanting to make a profit. I don't have time now to give a lot of links, but there are some below.

What started the violence between the U.S. government and Arabs was the U.S. government, not the Arabs. Having the U.S. taxpayer pay for violence to make a profit works only because most voters don't know the history of U.S. government action.

See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.

For one example of profiting from violence, read How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power or Bush-Nazi Link Confirmed: Documents in National Archives Prove George W. Bush's Grandfather Traded with Nazis - Even After Pearl Harbor.

Apparently Slashdot editors agree with at least some of this, because now and for the last 2 months or more, this has been on the main Slashdot page, on the right, under Book Reviews: "The Creature from Jekyll Island is a compelling look at the history of the Federal Reserve system and asks if it's a system that has run it's course. (Michael J. Ross's review)"

"The Creature from Jekyll Island" discusses how the U.S. monetary system is manipulated by rich and powerful people for their own profit. It says that wars are started for profit.

The Cooperative Research History Commons is very valuable for those wanting to do their own research.

The poorly edited but very interesting free movie Zeitgeist explains in three parts that 1) People who believe in myths are easily manipulated. 2) It is common that people are manipulated through fear. 3) The U.S. monetary system is controlled for the profit of a few individuals. (Note that the movie used respected sources for the first part which were later shown to be somewhat in error. The underlying issues are correct, however.)

When you talk about U.S. government action, don't say "we". Whoever does the secret decision making would kill you and your family if they thought you would cause trouble for them.

When people try to calculate the total number the U.S. government killed, they arrive at figures like perhaps 3 million killed directly since the end of the 2nd world war, and perhaps 8 to 11 million total if the people killed by the destabilization the U.S. government caused are also included, not including the people killed in Iraq. Partly the killing happened as a result of the U.S. government invading or bombing 25 countries.

"Are US soldiers shooting them, or are they getting killed by Muslims?"

Both.

Should the U.S. government be considered responsible only for the people it kills directly, or should it also be considered responsible for the violence that violence causes? I've read several books that have considered that fundamental issue.

When the U.S. government was violent in Cambodia during the Vietnam war, for example, how many people died as a result of U.S. government action? The answer is more than 2 million people, in Cambodia alone, because the U.S. government supported the rise of a very violent dictator.

The U.S. government supported Saddam Hussein, partly by selling him weapons. The weapons deliveries were still being made when the U.S. government declared its first war on Iraq.

When people try to calculate the total number the U.S. government killed, they arrive at figures like perhaps 3 million killed directly since the end of the 2nd world war, and perhaps 8 to 11 million total if the people killed by the destabilization the U.S. government caused are also included, not including the people killed in Iraq. Partly the killing happened as a result of the U.S. government invading or bombing 25 countries.

All or almost all of the U.S. government's killing appears to be motivated entirely by profit. Certainly Cambodians and Vietnamese could never have threatened anyone in the U.S.; they only made about $200 per year, and had no animosity toward anyone in the U.S., if they even knew the U.S. existed.

The problem is that most taxpayers, who pay for the violence, don't realize the underlying facts. Both attacks against the World Trade Center, for example, were motivated by the U.S. government's killing of Arabs and Muslims long before. But most U.S. taxpayers don't know about the earlier violence.

I am always against violence; nothing I say recommends or justifies violence; I think violence is caused by mental illness. The fact is, when one person or group acts out mental illness by being violent, there is a liklihood that some other person or group will feel encouraged to act out his or its mental illness.

The U.S. government has often used its "cooperation" with the governments of other countries to corrupt those governments. See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.

For one example of profiting from violence, read How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power or Bush-Nazi Link Confirmed: Documents in National Archives Prove George W. Bush's Grandfather Traded with Nazis - Even After Pearl Harbor.

Apparently Slashdot editors agree with at least some of this, because now and for the last 2 months or more, this has been on the main Slashdot page, on the right, under Book Reviews: " The Creature from Jekyll Island is a compelling look at the history of the Federal Reserve system and asks if it's a system that has run it's course. (Michael J. Ross's review)"

"The Creature from Jekyll Island" discusses how the U.S. monetary system is manipulated by rich and powerful people for their own profit. It says that wars are started for profit.

The Cooperative Research History Commons is very valuable for those wanting to do their own research.

The poorly edited but very interesting free movie

The U.S. government has often used its "cooperation" with the governments of other countries to corrupt those governments. See, for example, Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Most or all of that corruption happened for profit, such as kickbacks of U.S. government foreign aid. When the governments of Israel or Pakistan buy weapons from U.S. manufacturers using money from "foreign aid", that is embezzlement of taxpayer money.

The Cooperative Research History Commons is very valuable for those wanting to do their own research.

The poorly edited but very interesting free movie Zeitgeist explains in three parts that 1) People who believe in myths are easily manipulated. 2) It is common that people are manipulated through fear. 3) The U.S. monetary system is controlled for the profit of a few individuals. (Also see The Creature from Jekyll Island, an excellent but not perfect book about financial corruption.)

The U.S. government has killed directly or indirectly caused the death of an estimated 11,000,000 people since the end of the Second World war, partly by invading or bombing 25 countries.

Quote from the article: "I love when I see search engines like Google stick their neck out and tell the US Government that not even Uncle Sam can have access to user's search data."

When you read that some company told the U.S. government it could not have access, you should not believe that means the U.S. government did not get access. It could mean that access was allowed, but that the company was allowed to lie about it. It could mean that lower-level executives in the company were threatened with prison, arranged access, and were allowed to keep the access secret.

The U.S. government believes that it can get any information from any U.S. company at any time by threatening to put the executives of the company in prison. The U.S. government believes that it can keep that secret. The U.S. government believes that it can lie to the world and to U.S. citizens.

When there is widespread corruption, it is not wise to believe in limits to that corruption unless you have very good facts and reasons. The U.S. government has killed, or arranged the death of, or done things that resulted in the death of, an estimated 11,000,000 people since the end of the 2nd World War by invading or bombing 25 countries. All of that violence was for profit. For example, the purpose of occupying Iraq is to restrict the supply of oil and therefore drive up the price.

About Brazil: Someone ought to stop the iggerunt comments with some facts:

1) Do you have billboards in your city? Sao Paulo, Brazil, one of the biggest cities in the world does not. Sao Paulo is more advanced than most cities in that way.

2) Officials from New York City visited Curitiba, Brazil to learn how to run a city.

3) Brazilians seem much happier than people in the U.S., even though people in the U.S., on average, have more money.

4) It is not correct to call Brazil part of "Latin America". Brazilians are part of a very different culture than the Spanish-speaking countries. (Brazilians speak Portuguese.)

5) I know this will seem strange to men in the U.S., but women in Brazil generally like men and generally treat them well.

6) At least 50% of the men from the U.S. I have known who have visited Brazil have very quickly found a woman they wanted to marry. Don't do that. Take your time and do the work. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to build a marriage-quality relationship, even with a very nice woman.

7) Brazilians like jokes. Often a Brazilian takes advantage of, or begins to laugh about, a humorous situation in less than 500 milliseconds.

8) The Brazilian government is far from perfect, but is much less corrupt than the U.S. government. How many Iraqi civilians has the president of each country killed? George W. Bush: 1,000,000. Lula: 0. How many countries has each country invaded or bombed for oil or weapons or other profits since the end of the 2nd World War: United States: 24. Brazil: 0.

People in the U.S. are, generally, very ignorant about the corruption in the U.S. government.

The U.S. does not have a problem with Iran, except for the problems the U.S. government makes. The U.S. government is manipulated by Cheney and others to use taxpayer's money to get control of oil, so that oil prices will rise. Saddam Hussein was not cooperating with that, and Iran isn't either.

The U.S. government makes very violent threats, and, when Iran reacts and replies, tells U.S. citizens that Iran is a threat.

It is necessary to have a government with enough social sophistication that it can live in the world without killing other people, and the U.S. does not have that government. The U.S. government has invaded at least 24 countries since the second world war, and is responsible for the deaths of perhaps 11 million people. All of that violence was done for profit for people who were already rich. People who have been born in wealthy families often feel that it is their right to kill other people.

For a few details about U.S. government corruption, see George W. Bush comedy and tragedy.

See also Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government.

I'm very much in love with the U.S., and want to see better government.

Present-day realities of the U.S. government:

Bush does not run the U.S. government. He is only a figurehead provided by people who want corruption. There is no evidence he has ever been mentally engaged enough to understand the workings of government.

The word "conservative" is only a word used by people like Karl Rove ("Bush's Brain") to get political support. Those who call themselves conservative aren't conservative except towards someone else's corruption.

Bush is an alcoholic (possibly a dry alcoholic), from a family of alcoholics. His grandfather was a violent alcoholic. Expect lies and violence from powerful alcoholics.

Alcoholics aren't religious. The pretense of religion is only a way of getting elected. Those who want corruption will say or do anything to get elected. They try to find and exploit the weaknesses of those who are less educated and less informed.

Saddam Hussein would not restrict the flow of oil, so the other powers could not get control over the price of oil. The invasion of Iraq was to restrict the flow of oil so that prices would rise. This benefited oil company investors like Cheney and Bush and their associates, like "Prince" Bandar, the Saudi with whom G.W. Bush has been photographed holding hands, as he has with other Saudis.

People from rich families often arrive at the conclusion that it is their right to kill other people to make money. They don't do the killing themselves, of course, but get others to do it.

For more information, see this article: George W. Bush comedy and tragedy.

You said, "And Americans don't have a problem is exaggerated self-importance?"

Are you implying that, if I say one thing is true, then therefore you assume I think all other things are false?

No one in N.Z. kills other people as part of U.S. government policy. I wouldn't say that some of those in power in the U.S. government have "exaggerated self-importance". I think it is more accurate to say they are extraordinarily arrogant to the point that their arrogance is crippling mental illness. See George W. Bush comedy and tragedy and Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA. Sadly, those in power in the U.S. government believe that it is okay kill for profit.

"... one of the three largest defense contractors in the United States."

That means, "one of the three largest organizations that make tools for killing other people".

Organizations that support killing other people are never creative. They survive in the murky secret world of government contracts, where it is corruption that wins, never idealism.

Combining a highly creative company with a company whose purpose is largely to make violence more efficient will only destroy the creativity.

"If Northrop Grumman puts its resources behind him..."

They are not putting resources behind him. They bought the company. Burt Rutan is now just one of the resources. If he is like other executives of bought companies, he will leave within two years.

This is an international issue. The FBI, CIA, NSA, and other "government" agencies now operate world-wide, and have become, in effect, a secret police.

It is possible that this particular case has been picked for its public relations value. The U.S. government's spy agencies have for many years been using ANY tool at their disposal to spy ANYWHERE. It is possible that this case is designed to try to get approval from U.S. citizens for this kind of spying, when much of the spying they do is not to prevent crime, but to help a company like Cheney's Halliburton make more profit.

This is an international issue. The FBI, CIA, NSA, and other "government" agencies now operate world-wide, and have become, in effect, a secret police.

It is possible that this particular case has been picked for its public relations value. The U.S. government's spy agencies have for many years been using ANY tool at their disposal to spy ANYWHERE. It is possible that this case is designed to try to get approval from U.S. citizens for this kind of spying, when much of the spying they do is not to prevent crime, but to help a company like Cheney's Halliburton make more profit.

You said, "... how many corporations would Microsoft be putting out of business by fixing all the problems with their operating systems?"

Yours is an argument being made nationally concerning the U.S. government. Something like, "If the U.S. government stops killing people for money, a lot of U.S. citizens will have to find other jobs."

The jobs will be there. Running a business or a country well helps create prosperity. Prosperity creates jobs.

To me, all the jokes above are a bit sad, since they represent an inadequate response to extremely extensive U.S. government corruption.

... see the movie Sicko.

The parent comment, and others, minimize the issue. The issue is fraud by the medical profession. The medical system in the U.S. is broken.

Okay, this is an exaggeration to try to be funny: If you open your window on a quiet night, you can hear the crying of hundreds of people. Film studio executives in Hollywood are crying because they have to spend $20 million to market a movie that cost $20 million to film, but Michael Moore is invited to sell his movie Sicko from the podium in the U.S. federal government's House of Representatives, and the New York Times publishes a photograph, shown in the NYT article For Filmmaker,`Sicko' Is a Jumping-Off Point for Health Care Change. Quote from the article: "Even the haters agree this film is genius!"

When I last checked Fandango.com, there were 1651 "must see" ratings, 115 "go" ratings, and only 62 lower ratings. Sicko is the highest rated movie ever, apparently.

Complaining about Michael Moore is evidence of ignorance. He does the best he can. Do not demand that your evidence be sugar-coated and delivered on a silver plate. Get it where you can, and cross-check it carefully, or know you are purposely avoiding being part of the solution to the problems.

For those whose real purpose is having a way to act out their anger, while hiding it from themselves, get help. Work on resolving your anger, rather than listening to anger sellers like Rush Limbaugh.

One last thing: If you had educated yourself about what the U.S. government is doing and has done, you would have known that Michael Moore's movie Fahrenheit 451, while faulty in presentation, was entirely based on fact. For example, George W. Bush really does hold hands in an affectionate way with Saudis who control the Saudi government. Osama bin Laden's major complaint was that the U.S. government was supporting a Saudi government he thinks should be replaced. I'm against violence from any source, but certainly a Saudi citizen like bin Laden has a right to object to a regime in his own country that many Saudis say is repressive.

Thanks for making that point. There are many people in the U.S. who want to avoid knowing that their supposedly Christian country is violent, and usually for the sole purpose of making a few rich people richer.

Yes, some interesting information, but the underlying purpose of releasing it is TOTALLY dishonest. My understanding is that the CIA is releasing information as a public relations gesture. My understanding is that the agency is releasing only information that no longer matters to it, with any modifications it wants to make.

Almost the CIA's ONLY purpose is to help rich people get richer by providing information and violence paid for by U.S. citizens. The organization did not just suddenly become honest. (Read the linked article.)

Bush and Cheney have consistently claimed they are above the law. This fits the definition of a dictatorship: "A form of government in which the ruler is not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition".

The CIA invented a term for the destructive consequences of its actions: Blowback. Blowback doesn't matter to the agency, however, since it still gets what it wants. Also, for CIA employees, more trouble in the world means more money and promotions.

Remember, the terms NSA and CIA are just names that you are allowed to know, to try to get you to think you know what the U.S. government is doing. There are many agencies with names and purposes you are not allowed to know. If you are a U.S. citizen, you are, however, expected to pay. If you are not a U.S. citizen (and sometimes if you are), you may be expected to pay with your life.

MOD PARENT UP!!

"Yeah we need a serious change, like admitting that all this cloak and dagger, sorry that is classified, need to know, bullshit is the cause of most of the terrorist problems we have today. Drop the secrecy, and disassemble these above-the-law organizations. Dealing with policy in the open is the only way to keep it honest. When the government is dishonest with the nation about policy you do not have democracy, you have 'democracy theater' "

Few people have as good an understanding of U.S. government corruption as you. The violence of the U.S. government is dictated by people like Bush using the government to make money. That can only happen if there is secrecy.

NOTHING the NSA says can be trusted. It is NSA organization policy to lie to get what they want.

Also, no one should think they know the names of all the secret, but taxpayer-funded, organizations. "NSA" is just a public relations term, to try to get you to think you know what is happening.

If you are a U.S. citizen, you are paying to be mistreated.

This is a race to see who can be the most expensive, adversarial, angry, destructive, and lacking in social sophistication. I've had Chinese friends and acquaintances in 5 countries, and I'm betting on the U.S. government being more mentally ill than the Chinese government.

Frankly, that's what it is, a kind of socially contagious mental illness.

I work for the day when the U.S. government is able to live in the world without killing other people. The mental illness of the U.S. government encourages unstable government leaders everywhere to be more unstable.

The U.S. government's killing is motivated by the desire of a few rich people to make more money. For example, see: Coups Arranged or Backed by the USA.

I love the United States. Do you? If you do, show it by resisting the craziness.

I agree. However, I feel uncomfortable with the fact that most people who try to reason about the destruction of the ideals and reputation of their country use normal logic, when the logic of mental illness is sometimes more powerful.

Once someone begins killing for money they find themselves unable to stop, and their killing becomes bolder and bolder.

If you love the U.S., you will help her in her time of need. My help is a summary of some of the most important points of Bush administration corruption: George W. Bush comedy and tragedy.

"I imagine that most peoples' Hindi and Standard Mandarin is pretty rusty"

Define 'most'...

http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html ...seems to me that "most people's English is pretty rusty" would be *twice as correct as your statement about Mandarin, and about the same as Hindi.

Perhaps there are some terms that these anglicans can adopt from the middle east besides Jihad?

Perhaps there are some terms that these anglicans can adopt from the middle east besides Jihad?

Perhaps there are some terms that these anglicans can adopt from the middle east besides Jihad?

You accused Israel of attacking Iraq "first" -- that was not true -- Iraq was the aggressor (since 1948), and I simply pointed that out.

Thank you, conspiracy-theories are abundant in any place on Earth.

It is a long-known phenomenon -- the opressed, who can't do anything about their disadvantages, begin to accept them as normal and fair, blaming those, who don't have them, for "perversion" and violating "natural order" or "God's will" or whatever.

Soon after they left, the local kids -- my age -- discovered me, and got infuriated, that I was allowed to be in the boat (and take off to the river, whenever I pleased), because their camp's policy prohibited anyone under 16 to do that... Before long they began to pelt me with wet sand and I had to retreat from the shore...

Saddam has patently not destroyed the know-how to rebuild WMDs immediately after the sanctions were lifted -- American web-site displaying the captured documents was taken down last night after someone realized, the documents are too detailed for world-view...

I'm no expert... Far from it really. But you make it sound like english is hardly spoken at all... According to http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html english isn't really all that far down the list (#2). And as far as it's usefullness goes according to http://www.krysstal.com/english.html "It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism." I'd say that's a pretty good reason to learn it...?

How about these? Defend those.

If other nations dislike the government we democratically elected, they are free to choose not to associate with us as a response.

So true, so true... I remember hearing a survey saying even many US citizens are against those vetos...

Give me something that isn't from a right-wing newspaper.
The most corrupt thing in the UN is the US having a veto on everything the UN does. The UN would be much more effective if it didn't have those stupid vetoes.

Since the link in your post goes the website of a fictional organisation that Doctor Who belongs to, perhaps the moderation of your post as 'informative' was a little misplaced?

Since the link in your post goes the website of a fictional organisation that Doctor Who belongs to, perhaps the moderation of your post as 'informative' was a little misplaced?

Since the link in your post goes the website of a fictional organisation that Doctor Who belongs to, perhaps the moderation of your post as 'informative' was a little misplaced?

Since the link in your post goes the website of a fictional organisation that Doctor Who belongs to, perhaps the moderation of your post as 'informative' was a little misplaced?

Since the link in your post goes the website of a fictional organisation that Doctor Who belongs to, perhaps the moderation of your post as 'informative' was a little misplaced?

Absolutely nothing? That's far from the truth.

http://www.krysstal.com/inventions.html

Prior to the mid-19th century, inventing was known as "helping human-kind" instead of the a path to fame and fortune.

I'm not saying that I believe them, but arguing wavelength by compating to the size of atoms sounds a bit dodgy to me. For reference, 5 to 10 microns is in the wavelength band of infrared radiation, quite close to visible light (REF: http://www.krysstal.com/spectrum.html). Granted, they are claiming electron emission, not foton, but I just think there are much better arguments against this tech.

Just a minor (a bit offtopic I know) information point: French is not as widely spoken as most people think. Its not the "second language after english" as most people tend to think. Have a look e.g. here

Some facts for you:

1st: Mandarin with 885 million spoken in China, Malaysia, Taiwan
2nd: Spanish with 332 million spoken in South America, Central America, Spain
3rd: English with 322 million spoken in USA, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand
4th: Arabic with 235 million spoken in Middle East, Arabia, North Africa
5th: Bengali with 189 million spoken in Bangladesh, Eastern India

For a whole list a quick google gives http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html. You will find Portuguese at 7th very close to 5th position.

It would be interesting to observe on behalf of the orkut engineers the relations between the English speaking and the Portuguese communites to see the people who act as bridges between the communities because they are bi-lingual. Such people have an important role in society and the website just shows one of the current realities in life - communication

The United States invented the motorized aircraft, the polio vaccinne, the internet, the light bulb, the movie camera.

So how come an American didn't invent the telephone, or the radio, or discover insulin? The list of things not invented by Americans is far more extensive than the list of things invented in the U.S., whether they were invented by an American or not. The fact that you don't know what those items are does not mean they don't exist, or that you don't enjoy the fruits of non-American genius.

By the way, the U.S. is known for its industrial prowess, not a distinct technological advantage, other than in military technology (which is because it dumps so much of its GDP into military research). Certainly it's inhabitants are no more insightful than those from any other place I've travelled (about 13 countries, which is a small sample, but far more countries than most Americans have been to).

But I suppose if you've been told over and over again every day while you grow up that you're the best, then you'd end up with one hell of an ego, wouldn't you?

Check this out, brainiac: The History and Geography of Inventions.

Why ship it to the moon to incinerate it... you could just nudge it out of earth's orbit and let the sun pull it the rest of the way in and it'll be vaporized.

Imagine roads where 95% of all vehicles were Ladas. Think about how many people would refer to loading up the Lada for a holiday, or getting the Lada serviced, even if the were one of the few who drove a Peugeot.

You made me consider the origin of words, and whether "car" came from a shortened version of "carriage", i.e., the horseless kind. (Also I saw Seabiscuit last night, it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. ;-)

A search on the origin of the word shows it came from the Welsh "caer" meaning "fortified place", which describes many SUVs... And this one says (under archaic) it was "A chariot, carriage, or cart." Which makes a bit more sense, shortening "cart" by just dropping the "t"...

I would argue that the most popular OS in the world is Linux or Unix in general, judging from how many people like using it as opposed to being "forced" to use Windows just because you can't buy an x86 PC with any other OS. Also judging from the usage in terms of servers (especially HTTP servers), Linux/BSD win hands down.

Count the number of wars the US has been engaged in, the number of coups and political assasinations -since- WWII and tell me again that the US is not an imperialistic country.

You might try looking here and note the similarities between US policy and any other empire.

Yeah right!. Or try this one!

>You fuck with America and you sign your death warrant.

I think this is the kind of attitude I'm talking about.

>apologise to the murderers

Of course not, but you seem to have a hard time working out who the murderers actually are. You must be one of the 50% or so of Americans who think Saddam had something to do with 9/11 right?

I'd like to correct that, any thing that is living or has lived:
In science, Organic can be a biological or chemical term. In Biology it means any thing that is living or has lived. The opposite is Non-Organic. In Chemistry, an Organic compound is one containing Carbon atoms. The opposite term is Inorganic.