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Greg: Another chapter in your book is, "Death by Denial." People seem to be in total denial as far as what's making them sick and overweight. Is that what you touch on in this chapter?
 
Carolyn: Yes. I even refer to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's work on the five stages of death and dying that people go through. When it comes to the death of our society, the death of our culture, we are in complete denial of what's going on. You see, we don't think governments or business could be that sinister -- that they would rather make money than be concerned about human health. Instead of accepting this fact, people have put their head in the sand. They've got to wake up to the reality that the government and corporations are corrupt and simply don't care about our health. What Marshall McLuhan said is that only puny secrets need protection. **Big secrets are protected by public incredulity, and that's where we are now.**
 
-Death by Modern Medicine [healthliesexposed.com] (emphasis added)

We only have ourselves to blame for that.

I don't agree. IMHO, the government was used to rig the economic playing field. See 1970's, redux. Summary: federal reserve has been inflating the money supply since 1995. First came the dot com bubble, then the dot com crash. Recession! Then there came a "terrorist" attack, and Alan Greenspan and his merry band of fools cut interest rates to next-to-nothing. Because production had already been moving offshore (fleeing teh inflation), this new injection of money flowed into ... housing. If teh government hadn't already screwed the economy up, stimulus would've fincanced new production lines & the like. Now the media is finally picking up on the fact that there is a problem with housing bubbles, but they're a little late to realize such, and they still don't realize that the inflation in prices was directly caused by

I agree but it isn't just about cost. 30+ years ago "Made in the USA" meant quality. Does anyone see it that way today? Often people are willing to pay more for things produced overseas because of higher quality.

It's not that they have higher quality in Japan/China/Germany/etc, but that they've been getting all the investment for new equipment. New equipment and production processes result in higher quality.

As an interesting aside, note those three countries' position on the CIA's ranked order of Current account balance. Then read the list until you find the United States. Is it any wonder that companies try to move as much as possible offshore? (Link courtesy of the latest What We Now Know).

rarer are spy planes having to land on enemy territory, but it happened in 2001 to a US spy plane over an un-declared enemy (China, and that's a topic in itself)

Hopefully this new wireless technology will help them crack the 50% literacy milestone. I'm sure the 4% of the population with internet access will really appreaciate it, though.

Hopefully this new wireless technology will help them crack the 50% literacy milestone. I'm sure the 4% of the population with internet access will really appreaciate it, though.

Maybe I don't read the papers, but i do read the news online and in places not accessible to many here. Thousands of pounds of pre-Gulf War Stock remains in the bunkers at Al-Muthanna and Khamisayaa. Everything from mustard gas to cyclosarin to VX-2. Terrorists have used, albeit probably unknowingly, chemical munitions as IED's. Why was this not more widely reported? I leave that to your speculation. http://www.google.com/search?q=sarin+iraq+ied http://odci.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd_2004/chap5_an nxF.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120137,00.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4997808/ http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1873019&nav =EyB0NBHX ...

Yeah, right. Everyone's "underpaid." It's AMAZING the level of exploitation of underpaid, talented workers in America.

If only we could do it like, say, the socialist countries of the world, where the government FORCES people to pay workers what they're worth. I mean, look at how much stronger their economies are, how high the standard of living for the average joe and jane.

I wonder if folks like you ever take a step back and LISTEN to what you actually say, and compare it to reality.

When they disolve the act of union? When are you going to learn? ENGLAND is only ONE part of the UNITED KINGDOM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /uk.html

He had WMDs, at least of the chemical kind. How do we know this? Because we gave them to him, and then the Russians gave them to him! He also used them in the Gulf War.

As for bio and nuke... well we don't have any of those types of Iraqi WMDs in our hands at this point. However as we were invading from the south and east a LOT of vehicles were exiting the country out of the west to Jordan and Syria. No one knows what those vehicles contained. There was preliminary intell that suggested he had a nuke but no fuel for it; thus a trade with N Korea.

Also, Saddam was the master of hiding things in the desert. During the Gulf War we found entire MIGs buried in the sand. It would be ludicrous to think they never existed. To put those thoughts into a few facts:

According to the CIA World Factbook
Iraq land = 437,072 sq km
http://odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/iz. html#Geo

California land = 410,000 sq km
http://enc.slider.com/Enc/California

Back in October a gentleman was hiking in California (close to the same size of Iraq) and discovered a crashed WWII Airmen frozen in the mountains (on the surface). The plane had been there for 63 years in a public area, open to anyone, on our own soil, and in fact it was one of our National Parks! They were only about 35 miles from Fresno!
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id =3549625

The mountains in Iraq's are around 9,800ft This park looks to be roughly 10,000ft http://nps.gov/seki/pphtml/maps.html>. Using that same logic, it could equally be 60-100 years before any buried WMDs are found in Iraq's desert or mountains; assuming they are even found at all.

As to the oil, if we were after oil then we simply would've occupied/plundered from Kuwait and called it a "protection royalty". Why invade Iraq when we have a country that only exists because at our pleasure - Kuwait?

No oil has really been removed from Iraq; at least not to the US. If there was a greater supply on the market prices probably would've dropped by now, but they have actually been on the increase since the invasion. Even though we would be justified in taking some of Iraq's oil as a reparation for Saddam's atrocities, the Bush admin has repeatedly stated over and over again that the US will not take Iraq's oil because he doesn't want people to think that the invasion was about oil.

Hate to break it to ya, this conflict wasn't about oil. People who think it was need to learn how to remove their cranium from their rectum.

No, but the CIA headquarters is named after his dad. http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/19 99/portman_speech_042699.html

Everybody would get one.

I call bullshit.

Making up stuff so your argument works, rather than actually thinking and giving up on your beliefs when they don't work, is bullshit.

It's like this:
There are over 6 billion people in the world. Not all of whom does the word "plight" apply to. In 10 years, the CIA says there will be over 7 billion people. No way that all of them will have Legos ever. Not even everyone who can afford them will have them. But the point is, the possibility of them saturating their market in the next n years (where n is a very large #) is 1/X as X goes to infinity.

Oh yeah, Neener Neener!!

http://www.odci.gov/

This is a direct quote from a letter from Joseph Martinez, the Secretary for the ISO 3166 Maintainece Agency sent May 6, 2005.

"ISO 3166 does not set out to establish the name of countries, territories, or area of geographical interest."

ISO 3166 simply sets the code, not the names. Therefore going by ISO standard simply means that TW, TWN, 158 are the codes for Taiwan, as listed here.

Jamaica Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 est.)

US Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 97% (1999 est.)

Let me guess, you're a product of the great Jamaican school system?

Jamaica Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 est.)

US Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 97% (1999 est.)

Let me guess, you're a product of the great Jamaican school system?

Nowhere close ?!?

US Literacy Rate: 97%

http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /us.html

Same source lists Russia's as 99.6%

They're definitely ahead and your point is well made. But it seems a bit exaggerated to claim the US is "nowhere close".

Fact is: Mr. Kay didn't find any WMD program in an Iraq where every site and every place was open to him.

Wrong: Mr. Kay did find evidence of programs (dual-use of course), but he did not find large stockpiles or evidence of mass production activity. The Duelfer report also did not find stockpiles but did find evidence of: efforts to reconstitute nuclear programs, chemical and biological weapons experiments, and small-scale "terrorist" type chemical and biological weapons prototypes. Some key findings were:

Nuclear
*Iraq Survey Group (ISG) discovered further evidence of the maturity and significance of the pre-1991 Iraqi Nuclear Program but found that Iraq's ability to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program progressively decayed after that date.

*In the wake of Desert Storm, Iraq took steps to conceal key elements of its program and to preserve what it could of the professional capabilities of its nuclear scientific community. ISG found a limited number of post-1995 activities that would have aided the reconstitution of the nuclear weapons program once sanctions were lifted.

Chemical
*The way Iraq organized its chemical industry after the mid-1990s allowed it to conserve the knowledge-base needed to restart a CW program, conduct a modest amount of dual-use research, and partially recover from the decline of its production capability caused by the effects of the Gulf war and UN-sponsored destruction and sanctions. Iraq implemented a rigorous and formalized system of nationwide research and production of chemicals, but ISG will not be able to resolve whether Iraq intended the system to underpin any CW related efforts.

*Iraq's historical ability to implement simple solutions to weaponization challenges allowed Iraq to retain the capability to weaponize CW agent when the need arose. Because of the risk of discovery and consequences for ending UN sanctions, Iraq would have significantly jeopardized its chances of having sanctions lifted or no longer enforced if the UN or foreign entity had discovered that Iraq had undertaken any weaponization activities.

*ISG uncovered information that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained throughout 1991 to 2003 a set of undeclared covert laboratories to research and test various chemicals and poisons, primarily for intelligence operations.

Biological
*Iraq would have faced great difficulty in re-establishing an effective BW agent production capability. Nevertheless, after 1996 Iraq still had a significant dual-use capability--some declared--readily useful for BW if the Regime chose to use it to pursue a BW program. Moreover, Iraq still possessed its most important BW asset, the scientific know-how of its BW cadre.

*Depending on its scale, Iraq could have re-established an elementary BW program within a few weeks to a few months of a decision to do so, but ISG discovered no indications that the Regime was pursuing such a course.

*ISG judges that in 1991 and 1992, Iraq appears to have destroyed its undeclared stocks of BW weapons and probably destroyed remaining holdings of bulk BW agent. However ISG lacks evidence to document complete destruction. Iraq retained some BW-related seed stocks until their discovery after Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).

*The IIS had a series of laboratories that conducted biological work including research into BW agents for assassination purposes until the mid-1990s. ISG has not been able to establish the scope and nature of the work at these laboratories or determine whether any of the work was related to military development of BW agent.

Source: http://www.odci.gov/cia/reports/iraq_wmd_2004/inde x.html (Duelfer Report)

The point is not to look at what was wrong; there were mistaken assessments. The point is to find what was right. Saddam was in breach of sanctions, and his intentions were clear. Furthermore, the ISG did not investigate boarder act

A bit more on the part about territorial claims to the Antarctic. According to the CIA World Factbook http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos /ay.html, parts of Antarctica have been claimed by Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK, and some of those parts overlap. There's no mention on the website of any open conflict to uphold those claims.

Please read what Snopes has to say about the old Gore claiming to have invented the internet crap.

That is interesting, and makes the point, if that were my source for my understanding of Gore's claim. It was not, as I have already explained.

I am no champion of Kerry, or the Democrats, but to claim they are hate mongering (any more so that the Republican party) is just plain ignorant.

Really? Have you heard the crap that Gore has been spouting in the last year? He's been more animated that I've ever seen him. He's been proclaiming that Bush is working against the lower and middle classes (which in itself is a divisive claim). Kerry has been trying to make himself out to be a hero of the Vietnam war. Kids these days accept that blindly, while people my age (and older) remember that when he came back, he immediately went into the limelight, proclaiming American soldiers to be guilty of war crimes. Kerry is no hero. He has no regard whatsoever for veterans that have sacrificed their lives at the request of their country. Michael Moore, the anti-Bush Love Child, does nothing but spout half-truths that are designed to encourage hate. If you doubt that, go ask anyone that has seen Fahrenheit 9/11 what they thought of Bush after seeing it. The minority of people will point out that there were discrepancies between what really happened and what Moore tells as fact. The majority, who accepted Moore's movie as gospel, will tell you that they hate Bush more than ever before. The Democratic Party's effort to bring Social Security (an issue that has existed for some 40 years, and neither side has any real interest in fixing) into the fray with scare tactics is just one sad example that rears its ugly head every four years.

Yeah, the Republican Party has its bouts of mud slinging. They have nothing as bad as what the pro-Kerry camp are pushing, though.

Do you remember the Bush quote where he tells a room full of the ultra-rich upper class that while others call them the elite, he calls them his base?

No, I don't. I'm not rich (hard to be so when one was out of work for two years, getting by while doing several part-time jobs to make ends meet), and there are some things (oddly enough) from the core of the Democratic Party's platform that I could accept, but I do not believe that Kerry represents those beliefs at all.

Nor do his blatant connections with the Saudi Arabian royalty,

Have you noticed how much of the oil America consumes actually comes from Saudi Arabia? Although Saudi Arabia has 25% of the world's proved resources, they provide only a fraction of this to the United States. In fact, snopes.com has an interesting piece on the origins of gasoline, and whether or not it funds terrorist groups.

or his families money having come from collusion with the Nazis.

What's this got to do with anything? It has as much to do with anything as the idea that the Kennedy family got its money from running moonshine during the Prohibition. It's a non-factor today. Blaming a person for the actions of his (or her) ancestors is, quite plainly, stupid and ignorant. People are responsible for their own actions.

it seems like there are a lot of people I would trust more to run this country than Bush

I agree on this point, but unfortunately, none of them are running for President of the United States.

We would probably already have had one, if the government had not locked up all of the poor adult males.You don't think the war on drugs is really about helping people do you? Ever wonder why a larger percentage of Americans are locked up than any other industrialized nation (except China)?

This is almost laughable.

A larger percentage of Americans are jailed each year because

How can you claim the lofty title of taxpayer, when you live in a socialist state?

It is correct that our military is smaller, but there are only ~5 million of us. We spay way less per capita than the US on our army. The US spends nearly 4%* of their GNP on the military (and I suspect that figure does not include R&D, Homeland Security, CIA, etc.), whereas Denmark uses roughly 1½%*.

The reason that our basic training is set to a higher bar is, logically, that we have a smaller army. The US army works thru the principle of redundancy; otherwise flak jackets (or better) would be standard issue to your troops in Iraq (and elsewhere). Having so small a military as we do simply means that we have to make sure that all parts can function at least somewhat autonomously, and that the least possible number of troops are lost or disabled in combat.
I don't care how the President and Congress say they feel about military losses, they don't take proper care of their troops.

STFU, mister AC, or get proper arguments. At least have the decency to step up to the plate with a name if you wish to tell me to get a clue.

It is correct that our military is smaller, but there are only ~5 million of us. We spay way less per capita than the US on our army. The US spends nearly 4%* of their GNP on the military (and I suspect that figure does not include R&D, Homeland Security, CIA, etc.), whereas Denmark uses roughly 1½%*.

The reason that our basic training is set to a higher bar is, logically, that we have a smaller army. The US army works thru the principle of redundancy; otherwise flak jackets (or better) would be standard issue to your troops in Iraq (and elsewhere). Having so small a military as we do simply means that we have to make sure that all parts can function at least somewhat autonomously, and that the least possible number of troops are lost or disabled in combat.
I don't care how the President and Congress say they feel about military losses, they don't take proper care of their troops.

STFU, mister AC, or get proper arguments. At least have the decency to step up to the plate with a name if you wish to tell me to get a clue.

Ah, you see, you saw that PR piece in the other timeline, the one where Czechosolvakia ceased to exist on the first of January, 1993 .

Muslims countries it is like 50 percent or more of the women are beaten. Wife beating is not such a monumental and popular hobby in the West. So do not give me your crap.

Muslim countries -- all of them, there are much more illiterate women then men.

From the CIA factbook-

Egypt Literacy:

"definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 57.7%
male: 68.3%
female: 46.9% (2003 est.)"

Connect the dots

1)women have much higher illiteracy rates
2)there is much pressure for them to cover up in burkas or headscarve
3)wives frequently are beaten by their husbands
4)judges are lenient on men who kill women for reasons of honor

The picture comes out clear to me. Maybe you cannot see it.

I don't think so. India has a 2003 population of 1 billion vs. the U.S.'es 290 million. Although the numbers are not immediately comparable (because of the disparate standards of living in both countries and thus access to skilled workers), the simple fact is that India is could swallow every tech job here and not even burp. From a U.S.-centric view, the numbers are even worse when you look at the 1.2 billion citizens of China, although the language barrier offers some protection to tech workers.

I don't think so. India has a 2003 population of 1 billion vs. the U.S.'es 290 million. Although the numbers are not immediately comparable (because of the disparate standards of living in both countries and thus access to skilled workers), the simple fact is that India is could swallow every tech job here and not even burp. From a U.S.-centric view, the numbers are even worse when you look at the 1.2 billion citizens of China, although the language barrier offers some protection to tech workers.

I don't think so. India has a 2003 population of 1 billion vs. the U.S.'es 290 million. Although the numbers are not immediately comparable (because of the disparate standards of living in both countries and thus access to skilled workers), the simple fact is that India is could swallow every tech job here and not even burp. From a U.S.-centric view, the numbers are even worse when you look at the 1.2 billion citizens of China, although the language barrier offers some protection to tech workers.

I'd rather starve here first.

amnesty
cia

My source is the CIA World Factbook. Their page on Niue is pretty interesting. Seems they're actually 10% Mormon. Oh, and if you want to get there, you have to take Polynesian Airlines. No one else flies into the one Niuean airport. For those of you planning to go there from the States: you have to go thru American Samoa, via Los Angeles or Honolulu. AFAIK, Polynesian have one airplane, and their timetable only has it going from Apia to Niue Monday morning at 5 AM. All well and good, except that the flight from LA/Hawaii to Apia is on (the previous) Wednesday. Of course, this is only a problem if you don't want to spend a few days in Samoa. For more information on Niue, check out this page. It looks spectacular.

My source is the CIA World Factbook. Their page on Niue is pretty interesting. Seems they're actually 10% Mormon. Oh, and if you want to get there, you have to take Polynesian Airlines. No one else flies into the one Niuean airport. For those of you planning to go there from the States: you have to go thru American Samoa, via Los Angeles or Honolulu. AFAIK, Polynesian have one airplane, and their timetable only has it going from Apia to Niue Monday morning at 5 AM. All well and good, except that the flight from LA/Hawaii to Apia is on (the previous) Wednesday. Of course, this is only a problem if you don't want to spend a few days in Samoa. For more information on Niue, check out this page. It looks spectacular.

Surely we could concoct some reason for Bill to want to wipe out the first national wireless network?

[Speaking of which, is there any truth to the rumour that Niue's neighbour Micronesia wants to change its tld to .ms just to cash in on the possibilities??]

Actually, India has over 1 billion people.

As for numbers that we supposedly spend 3 times on education as we do on the military, please download form i1040gi.pdf from the IRS.gov website. Look at page 76, you'll find...

20 % total to (2). National defense, veterans, and foreign affairs: About 17% of outlays were to equip, modernize, and pay our armed forces and to fund other national defense activities; about 2% were for veterans benefits and services; and about 1% were for international activities, including military and economic assistance to foreign countries and the maintenance of U.S. embassies abroad.

10% total to (3) Physical, human, and community development: These outlays were for agriculture; natural resources; environment; transportation; aid for elementary and secondary education and direct assistance to college students; job training; deposit insurance, commerce and housing credit, and community development; and space, energy, and general science programs.

Excuse me ?

I was under the impression that large parts of the legal process in the USA are based on English Common Law, as are many other legal systems throughout the world. Can I quote from the CIA factbook for the USA ?

Legal System : based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Please dont spout your ill-informed opinions about the UK without checking your facts first.

<resist could='false'>
There are no Slashdot readers GETting from www.taipeitimes.com

Their TCP packets are even now committing suicide in a router in the Bering Straits.

Faltering forces of infidels cannot just enter a country of 22 million people and lay besiege to them! They are the ones who will find themselves under siege. Therefore, in reality whatever this miserable Michael has been saying, he was talking about his own forces. Now even the Slashdot command is under siege.

The Editors, they always depend on a method what I call ... stupid, silly. All I ask is check yourself. Do not in fact repeat their lies.
</resist>
</post>

You can open a resturant in NYC with less paperwork than it takes to provision a single copper pair from an ILEC, and it shows in the pricing.

Haha, your point is well taken. Is there any wonder why Americans are so obese? :-P

As for Sweden, there were some posts a while back (I forget the thread) discussing the relative advantages/disadvantages of the Swedish governmental system that were quite interesting. Perhaps I can uncover them and post a link...

I actually admire Scandinavians greatly. I wish their populations weren't so stagnant. (To save you some searching for the population growth rates: Denmark 0.29%, Finland 0.14%, Sweden 0.02%, Norway 0.47%, USA 0.89%, Qatar 3.02%)

At least they're non-negative, unlike Bulgaria at -1.11%, Ukraine at -0.72%, and Russia at -0.33%...

More information about Estonia (and every other country in the world) here.

CIA Kryptos Sculpture

Located in the northwest corner of the New Headquarters Building courtyard is a sculpture by artist James Sanborn entitled "Kryptos." Dedicated on November 3, 1990, the theme of this sculpture is "intelligence gathering." "Kryptos" incorporates native American materials such as wood and metal. A piece of petrified wood supports a large S-shaped copper screen that looks like a piece of paper coming out of a computer printer. On the "paper" are inscribed several enigmatic messages, each written in a different code.

CIA Website

ABC News Article

More here!

Constitutionally, Japan spends 1% of GDP (40.7 Billion - CIA Fact Book) on defense. 1% of a very big number is still a very big number.

The other question is the role of the military in driving technology. It is not clear that defense spending is a technology negative. Arpanet. More importantly, many new technology companies, in all sorts of boring areas like glue technology and stronger screws get their starts from DARPA grants, not to mention OpenBSD (now I'm trolling). Boeing gets a huge effective development subsidy from defense spending. Examples are all around of military demands driving technology improvements, just as the military benefits from commercial technology.

If by "used for Tuvalu citizens" you mean "pull some money into a dirt-poor country so that maybe the economy will grow and everyone can afford running water and electricity someday" -- then yes.

Aargh ... Why are you being so difficult? Most western countries have agreed to adapt GPRS as a temporary standard before a UMTS-net is up and running. You are moving towards isolation regarding mobile technology, that isn't good. Not for you and not for the other 95.5% of the world population. (world PopClock and cia factbook)

Yeah well... The Japanese economy is sad. Your future is uncertain; you are likely to be unemployed. The Japanese cost of living makes San Francisco look cheap (even New York) - $30 is probably a far greater percentage of your disposable income than mine. And judging on the last time there was an earthquake, your government acted completely defunct. Taxes are high and Japan is going through a cultural crisis. And most Japanese work on Saturday - but get less done (your GDP is lower ($36,200 USA vs. Japan $24,900) and we work 5 days a week). Your country lends money to countries who get better economic ratings than you. Japan's Economy: Now Rated Below Botswana Monday, July 8, 2002.

You know, there is a lot more to life than DSL. Unlike Japan, we have a *huge* country and a gigantic and fascinatingly well working infrastructure (in part due to Japanese Americans, Japanese engineering and equipment, credit is most certainly due).

You know, there are central offices here in the US that are 100s of miles from certain customers. In Japan, there is barely a square mile left that is undeveloped, so suffice to say, it should be rather easy to implement high speed internet cheaply. And speaking on environments, your fishermen are repeatedly caught killing near-extinct whale species, kill seals for their penises which are considered a delicacy, and have no renewable resources left on your Island of Japan. Looks like Nabunaga's ambition went a tad too far.

Think. The USA is not a poster child for how things should be run, but socialist tendencies (like DIRT! CHEAP! INTERNET! FOR! EVERYONE!) seem to far further from the ideal we all try to work towards.

US/Japan infrastructure:
US Telephones 194 million (1997) / Japan Telephones - 60.381 million (1997)
US Telephones cellular: 69.209 million (1998) / Japan Telephones - cellular: 63.88 million (2000)
US Radio stations: AM 4,762, FM 5,542 (1998) / Japan Radio stations: AM 190, FM 88 (1999)
US Highways: total: 6,370,031 km / Japan Highways: total: 1,152,207 km
US Waterways: 41,009 km / Japan Waterways: 1,770 km
US Airports - with paved runways: total: 5,174 / Japan Airports - with paved runways: total: 142
US Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7,800 (2000 est.) / Japan ISPS 73 (2000)
US INTERNET USERS Internet users: 148 million (2000) / JAPAN INTERNET USERS Internet users: 27.06 million (2000)

So, I think the US has a slight idea about infrastructure, and how to provide every opportunity to do well for yourself and your business.. And most of the figures, even when divided by 2.1 or so to account for the population discrepancy, well, leaves Japan in the dust.
US Population: 278,058,881 (July 2001 est.) / Japan Population: 126,771,662 (July 2001 est.)

Go check out more interesting country facts here.

Quotes:

Japan's Ledger

By comparison, Japan's ledger sheet is not so simple or impressive. Japan's $4.2 trillion economy may be slowly shrugging off its third recession in a decade, but there are still fundamental issues.

Japan's total debt to GDP is triple the American level. That is the highest any major industrialized country has faced in the last half century.

Japan's economy shrunk by 1.3 percent last year. Meanwhile, the average age has crept up to 41, the highest in the world.

Japan has $5 trillion in primary government debt, $3.7 trillion of which is bonds.

Japanese companies continue to eliminate jobs, helping push the unemployment rate to a near-record 5.4 percent in May. With their jobs in jeopardy, Japanese are spending less on cars, homes and other expensive items.

Thirteen percent of Japan's general expenditures go to social security payments and a whopping 20 percent to debt service.

according to the CIA factbook, per capita is $2,200/yr (2000est), and 35% below poverty(1994est); not $100/yr at 90%.

sorry pal, but we spend about 3-6% on our millitary. countries like India and Pakistan spend 50-70% on millitary.

You have got to be kidding me. In 2000 India spent 2.5% of GDP on the military.

Hello:

According to The World Factbook, the total area of South Africa is 1,219,912 sq km. The article at the BBC website said that if the 300 m asteroid would've hit London, France and England would have been destroyed. According to the World Factbook, the total area of the UK is 244,820 sq km and France is 547,030 sq km. Adding these two numbers together results in 791,850 sq km. This is a far cry from the total area of South Africa.

Informer
by Snow

What's up man! Hey yo what's up!
Yeah what's goin' on here.
Sick an' tired of five-oh runnin' up on the block here.
You know what I'm sayin'?
Yo Snow, they came around here lookin' for you the other day.
Word? Word! Bust it!

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Police them come an' now they blow down me door,
One him come crawl through, through my window,
So then they put me in the back the car at the station,
From that point on me reach my destination,
When the destination reached, it was the east detention, where them
Whipped down me pants, looked up me bottom, so
Bigger they are they think they have more power,
They're on the phone me say that on (every) hour,
Me for want to use it once an' now me call me lover,
Lover who I'll be callin is the one TAMMY,
an' me love her in me heart down to my belly,
Yes me Daddy me Snow me I feel cool an' deadly,
As the one MC Shan an' the one Daddy Snow,
Together we-a love'em as a Tor-Na-Do.

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Listen for me, you better listen for me now.
Listen for me, you better listen for me now.
When me rockin' the microphone me rock it steady,
Yes sir, Daddy me Snow me are the article don.
But in the in an' the out of a dance them they say where you come from,
People them say you come from Jamaica,
But me born an' raised in the ghetto that's the one I want you to know,
Pure black people mon that's all I mon know.
Yeah me shoes are tear up an' me toes used to show,
Where me born in on the one Toronto, so

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Come with a nice young lady. Intelligent,
Yes she's gentle an' irie.
Everywhere me go, me never left her at all.
Yes, its Daddy Snow me are the roam dance mon.
Roam between a dancin' in a in a nation-a.
You never know say Daddy me Snow me are the Boom Shakata.
Me never lay-a down flat in that one cardboard box.
Yes say me Daddy me Snow me I'll go reachin' at the top, so

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Why would he?

Me sittin' 'round cool with my dibbie dibbie girl,
Police knock my door,
Lick up my pal,
Rough me up an' I can't do a thing
Pick up my line, when my telephone ring.
Take me to the station,
Black up my hands.
Trail me down, 'cuz I'm hangin' with the Snowman,
What I'm gonna do,
I'm backed an' I'm trapped,
Slap me in the face an' took all o' my gap.
They have no clues an' they wanna get warmer,
But Shan won't turn Informer!

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Informer
by Snow

What's up man! Hey yo what's up!
Yeah what's goin' on here.
Sick an' tired of five-oh runnin' up on the block here.
You know what I'm sayin'?
Yo Snow, they came around here lookin' for you the other day.
Word? Word! Bust it!

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Police them come an' now they blow down me door,
One him come crawl through, through my window,
So then they put me in the back the car at the station,
From that point on me reach my destination,
When the destination reached, it was the east detention, where them
Whipped down me pants, looked up me bottom, so
Bigger they are they think they have more power,
They're on the phone me say that on (every) hour,
Me for want to use it once an' now me call me lover,
Lover who I'll be callin is the one TAMMY,
an' me love her in me heart down to my belly,
Yes me Daddy me Snow me I feel cool an' deadly,
As the one MC Shan an' the one Daddy Snow,
Together we-a love'em as a Tor-Na-Do.

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Listen for me, you better listen for me now.
Listen for me, you better listen for me now.
When me rockin' the microphone me rock it steady,
Yes sir, Daddy me Snow me are the article don.
But in the in an' the out of a dance them they say where you come from,
People them say you come from Jamaica,
But me born an' raised in the ghetto that's the one I want you to know,
Pure black people mon that's all I mon know.
Yeah me shoes are tear up an' me toes used to show,
Where me born in on the one Toronto, so

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Come with a nice young lady. Intelligent,
Yes she's gentle an' irie.
Everywhere me go, me never left her at all.
Yes, its Daddy Snow me are the roam dance mon.
Roam between a dancin' in a in a nation-a.
You never know say Daddy me Snow me are the Boom Shakata.
Me never lay-a down flat in that one cardboard box.
Yes say me Daddy me Snow me I'll go reachin' at the top, so

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

Why would he?

Me sittin' 'round cool with my dibbie dibbie girl,
Police knock my door,
Lick up my pal,
Rough me up an' I can't do a thing
Pick up my line, when my telephone ring.
Take me to the station,
Black up my hands.
Trail me down, 'cuz I'm hangin' with the Snowman,
What I'm gonna do,
I'm backed an' I'm trapped,
Slap me in the face an' took all o' my gap.
They have no clues an' they wanna get warmer,
But Shan won't turn Informer!

Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Informer, you no say Daddy me Snow me I'll go blame,
A licky Boom Boom Down.
Detective mon said Daddy me Snow me stab someone down the lane,
A licky Boom Boom Down.

It's been impossible to avoid the hype on this film. Even if you avoid TV, the whole web has been bursting with bits, ranging from eBay to CNN.com.

Funny, I didn't see any hype for this movie. I didn't even know it existed until the /. post. Of course, not actually living in the US can be a handicap. Or blessing, now that I think about it from the media hype-standpoint.

Whole countries? Liechtenstein or Vatican City: easy. Russia or Canada: not so easy. :-)