If you have evidence of genocide, attacking its neighbours and torture/murder then yes it should.
Is English an inferior language?
<<Wow, so the USA should lose its sovereignty. >>
Hey, sure, if you think you can take it from us.
That's really the key to international law -- you have as many rights and as much sovereignty as you can secure for yourself and back up with military might when push comes to shove. International law is pretty much worth the paper it's written on if no one is willing to enforce it with firepower. Not much ever changes in history, does it? You can pretty it up with treaties or papal bulls or U.N.s or any other window dressing you like, but deep down it really is about what you can get away with, and always has been.
Hey, sure, if you think you can take it from us.
That's really the key to international law -- you have as many rights and as much sovereignty as you can secure for yourself and back up with military might when push comes to shove. International law is pretty much worth the paper it's written on if no one is willing to enforce it with firepower. Not much ever changes in history, does it? You can pretty it up with treaties or papal bulls or U.N.s or any other window dressing you like, but deep down it really is about what you can get away with, and always has been.
***.... the US....a population that can only grunt and point***
Of all the Americans I have come across here in the UK I can't recall any single one of them who communicated in grunts and had to resort to pointing gestures.....even in Glasgow where many of the locals do indeed grunt and point their way through life.....maybe I've just been unlucky not to have met any American who do this. In fact, all of them were highly articulate, and a fair number of them had an accent which was in no way harsh or an affront to the British ear.
If you want to hear British people communicating in barely comprehensible gruntspeak then all you have to do is watch the Jeremy Kyle Show...this bloke obviously trawls the underclass sink estates of (mostly) England from which to recruit all his "guests" on his precious stage. No self respecting articulate Brit would go within a trillion miles of those studios of his.
If I was a citizen of Reading (such as Kate Winslet, for one) then I would be ashamed to admit that Jezza also hails from that fair city.
Of all the Americans I have come across here in the UK I can't recall any single one of them who communicated in grunts and had to resort to pointing gestures.....even in Glasgow where many of the locals do indeed grunt and point their way through life.....maybe I've just been unlucky not to have met any American who do this. In fact, all of them were highly articulate, and a fair number of them had an accent which was in no way harsh or an affront to the British ear.
If you want to hear British people communicating in barely comprehensible gruntspeak then all you have to do is watch the Jeremy Kyle Show...this bloke obviously trawls the underclass sink estates of (mostly) England from which to recruit all his "guests" on his precious stage. No self respecting articulate Brit would go within a trillion miles of those studios of his.
If I was a citizen of Reading (such as Kate Winslet, for one) then I would be ashamed to admit that Jezza also hails from that fair city.
***They massacred the innocent Iraki people***
I think you're confusing us with Saddam Hussein.
***I met a Romanian who was passionate about learning Persian***
Good for him/her.......s/he'll probably go far in Iran.....I'm not so certain that a fluent knowledge of Persian would be quite so effective in London or New York or Frankfurt or Paris or Tokio or Addis Ababa. Or do you think otherwise? Maybe there's something I need to know......
All I know is what I and my friend experienced back then in Romania....a very keen interest in the English language among our contemporaries in that country, with other languages, including German, trailing way, way back. None of those people would ever consider it in the term you described, pal.
OMG...I'm conversing with a troll again....when will I ever learn! Geez! (There....that's something a cool American guy taught me to say, and I don't think he was even capable of grunting).
I think you're confusing us with Saddam Hussein.
***I met a Romanian who was passionate about learning Persian***
Good for him/her.......s/he'll probably go far in Iran.....I'm not so certain that a fluent knowledge of Persian would be quite so effective in London or New York or Frankfurt or Paris or Tokio or Addis Ababa. Or do you think otherwise? Maybe there's something I need to know......
All I know is what I and my friend experienced back then in Romania....a very keen interest in the English language among our contemporaries in that country, with other languages, including German, trailing way, way back. None of those people would ever consider it in the term you described, pal.
OMG...I'm conversing with a troll again....when will I ever learn! Geez! (There....that's something a cool American guy taught me to say, and I don't think he was even capable of grunting).
Guest Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:00 pm GMT
The British not only are cowards but evil people. They massacred the innocent Iraki people.
IRAN-IRAQ WAR
Iran-Iraq War, an armed conflict that began when Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 and ended in August 1988, with an estimated total of 1.7 million wounded and 1 million dead.
http://members.tripod.com/al_3irakia/iraniraq.htm
Kuwait invasion 1990
On August 2, 1990 at 2:00 am local time, Iraq launched an invasion with four elite Iraqi Republican Guard divisions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait
Saddam targets Israel
17 Jul 2001 ... The Iraqi leader uses a TV address marking the ruling party's 33 years in power to call on Arabs to rise up against Israel.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1442947.stm
Halabja poison gas attack
Saddam uses mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin against Kurds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack
Iraq is a Good Neighbour to have!
Iraqis are nice people
Would you like to live in Iraq?
WikiAnswers - Are iraqis nice people?
Uncategorized question: Are iraqis nice people? Please help us answer this question.
wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_iraqis_nice_people - Cached - Similar
The British not only are cowards but evil people. They massacred the innocent Iraki people.
IRAN-IRAQ WAR
Iran-Iraq War, an armed conflict that began when Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 and ended in August 1988, with an estimated total of 1.7 million wounded and 1 million dead.
http://members.tripod.com/al_3irakia/iraniraq.htm
Kuwait invasion 1990
On August 2, 1990 at 2:00 am local time, Iraq launched an invasion with four elite Iraqi Republican Guard divisions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait
Saddam targets Israel
17 Jul 2001 ... The Iraqi leader uses a TV address marking the ruling party's 33 years in power to call on Arabs to rise up against Israel.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1442947.stm
Halabja poison gas attack
Saddam uses mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin against Kurds.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack
Iraq is a Good Neighbour to have!
Iraqis are nice people
Would you like to live in Iraq?
WikiAnswers - Are iraqis nice people?
Uncategorized question: Are iraqis nice people? Please help us answer this question.
wiki.answers.com/Q/Are_iraqis_nice_people - Cached - Similar
<<It was so hard for my schoolmate and I not to giggle at this>>
<<No self respecting articulate Brit>>
Note:
It was so hard for my schoolmate and *me* not to giggle at this.
<<No self respecting articulate Brit>>
Note:
It was so hard for my schoolmate and *me* not to giggle at this.
You are absolutely right - my sincere apologies for this critical error.....it's just like saying something like "me and my mate went out last night" - which really is what many people say in ordinary conversation, but I really should have known better there - no excuse at all at this end. Fifty lashes as you tie me to the yardarm....me was obviously not concentrating on what I was typing and ignoring the rules of grammar. Mind you, in my defence, I would never, ever say "me and my mate went to town" but you'd be surprised just how many people do.
Anyway, a full two page article in yesterday's "Daily Telegraph" seeing that today has just turned into yesterday which was 15/09/09....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6189918/Ambrose-Evans-Pritchard-does-the-EU-club-have-a-future.html
Basically, it revolves around the widespread belief that many Brits are "reluctant Europeans" - in the opinion of practically all of our fellow European Union member States, even though the English Language undeniably holds centre stage in the EU theatre - nobody can possibly dispute that...it truly IS the lingua franca in Europe. In spite of this many of our Continental brethren castigate us for our "isolationist mentality" in that many of us have an "Us and Them" attitude when it comes to Europe as a whole, a state of mind which I, personally, do not possess...on the contrary.
Anyway, politics aside, the Language statistics contained in this article are interesting.
Taking the entire population of all the EU member countries into account -
the % of those able to speak and understand various languages are:
English 51% right across the entire EU
(English being of course the mother tongue of the UK and Ireland)
German 32% right across the EU
(mother tongue of Germany, Austria)
French 26% EU
(France, Belgium - part, Luxembourg - part)
Italian 16% EU
(Italy - partly Malta, partly Slovenia)
Spanish 15% EU
(Spain)
Polish 10% EU
(Poland)
Russian 7% EU
(Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
Dutch 6% EU
(Netherlands)
Czech, Greek, Swedish 3% EU
Danish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Catalan (Spain) Slovak
(countries self explanatory)
Averare number of languages a pupil learns in secondary education by country:
Luxembourg (top of the list by a long way) 2.3 languages
Estonia 2.2 languages
France 1.7 langages
Italy 1.3 languages
Germany 0.9 languages
and easily at the bottom of the list:
UK 0.1% Nothing to be proud about at all for Brits, but that comes as no surprise to anyone at all, does it?
The languages concerned are, of course, not the ones native to each country.
Good night.
Anyway, a full two page article in yesterday's "Daily Telegraph" seeing that today has just turned into yesterday which was 15/09/09....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6189918/Ambrose-Evans-Pritchard-does-the-EU-club-have-a-future.html
Basically, it revolves around the widespread belief that many Brits are "reluctant Europeans" - in the opinion of practically all of our fellow European Union member States, even though the English Language undeniably holds centre stage in the EU theatre - nobody can possibly dispute that...it truly IS the lingua franca in Europe. In spite of this many of our Continental brethren castigate us for our "isolationist mentality" in that many of us have an "Us and Them" attitude when it comes to Europe as a whole, a state of mind which I, personally, do not possess...on the contrary.
Anyway, politics aside, the Language statistics contained in this article are interesting.
Taking the entire population of all the EU member countries into account -
the % of those able to speak and understand various languages are:
English 51% right across the entire EU
(English being of course the mother tongue of the UK and Ireland)
German 32% right across the EU
(mother tongue of Germany, Austria)
French 26% EU
(France, Belgium - part, Luxembourg - part)
Italian 16% EU
(Italy - partly Malta, partly Slovenia)
Spanish 15% EU
(Spain)
Polish 10% EU
(Poland)
Russian 7% EU
(Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
Dutch 6% EU
(Netherlands)
Czech, Greek, Swedish 3% EU
Danish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Catalan (Spain) Slovak
(countries self explanatory)
Averare number of languages a pupil learns in secondary education by country:
Luxembourg (top of the list by a long way) 2.3 languages
Estonia 2.2 languages
France 1.7 langages
Italy 1.3 languages
Germany 0.9 languages
and easily at the bottom of the list:
UK 0.1% Nothing to be proud about at all for Brits, but that comes as no surprise to anyone at all, does it?
The languages concerned are, of course, not the ones native to each country.
Good night.
Dear Damian
Although you may not have an 'Us' and 'Them' attitude towards them. I think that most Brits do.
I walked round the European Parliament in Strasbourg and my main emotion was how much is this costing us? Of course, for some Europeans it is not costing them anything. They are benefiting from the EU.
As well as showing the distribution of different languages, how about showing the distribution of costs and benefits within the EU. Some countries have undoubtedly got a good deal.
Also, if you just think about it in terms of geography. If you live in the centre of Europe and your prosperity depends on people using your services, then it makes sense to think in European terms. If you live on the periphery of Europe, then things look very different. Particularly when you are asked to be a 'net contributor'.
Although you may not have an 'Us' and 'Them' attitude towards them. I think that most Brits do.
I walked round the European Parliament in Strasbourg and my main emotion was how much is this costing us? Of course, for some Europeans it is not costing them anything. They are benefiting from the EU.
As well as showing the distribution of different languages, how about showing the distribution of costs and benefits within the EU. Some countries have undoubtedly got a good deal.
Also, if you just think about it in terms of geography. If you live in the centre of Europe and your prosperity depends on people using your services, then it makes sense to think in European terms. If you live on the periphery of Europe, then things look very different. Particularly when you are asked to be a 'net contributor'.
***Particularly when you are asked to be a 'net contributor'***
Agreed....with the 'net contribution' increasing year on year with the latest UK upward hike in EU outward payments to the Europot being announced only last week, but I think it's all well worth it.....it's just inconceivable that the UK will ever withdraw from the EU, it just ain't gonna happen (see, Uriel - you were right - we do speak like you guys espeially when feelings run high.
Sure enough, some of the member States are net recipients of EU dosh and are benefiting big time - that was the case with Ireland following their admission to the EU, it made an enormous difference to their economy and overall well being.
Ten years ago I was in Romania and we were gobsmacked with the poverty and the backwardness we saw in the country - if any nation deserved all the EU handouts they could get then it was Romania. They, in turn, are obliged all all times to abide by EU rulings and terms and conditions of membership otherwise it would be back to the drawing board for them if they fail on this score.
Nearby Bulgaria is finding all that just a tad difficult to maintain apparently - it seems that a Communist style mentality along with mafia style methods still exist over there to some extent. I'm not sure how the Bulgarians are going to keep the wheels turning satisfactorily as it seems to us that so many of their younger people are here in Western Europe in spite of the current recession - or "recent" recession as we're constantly being told is now the case.
As for Euro scepticism and anti EU sentiments exisiting in Britain then our geographical position on the periphery of Europe, plus the fact that we are insular in the true sense of the word, goes a long way to explain the perceived anti EU, anti Europe mentality in a fair number of Brits.
Sweden used to be in the same position (Denmark not so much) but now the Swedes are now losing their patience with us because of this attitude so many of us still hold. We really must get over ourselves as nothing can change the fact that Britain is physically part of Europe - barring any huge seismic upheaval nothing can ever change that, and the truth of the matter is this - a UK withdrawal from the EU would be suicidal madness....leaving us as an off shore island of no consequence. The British Empire died with Queen Vic, for goodness sake.....we are now Europeans in every sense of the word.
Flippin' 'eck as like (as they say in Lancashire, according to "Coronation Street") - our Language is the lingua franca of the whole show anyway - over 50% of the EU population as a whole are able to speak English and our language is officially the main one in used in Brussels, Strasbourg and the Hague (Den Haag), so we surely must feel at home over there at least....civilisation doesn't really end at Calais...in fact, in some ways at least it actually begins there! I always enjoy emerging from the Chunnel into the atmosphere of la Belle France. The last time I did that it was dull and drizzly in Folkestone, but fine and sunny in Calais.....places just 22 miles apart as the crow flies.
Agreed....with the 'net contribution' increasing year on year with the latest UK upward hike in EU outward payments to the Europot being announced only last week, but I think it's all well worth it.....it's just inconceivable that the UK will ever withdraw from the EU, it just ain't gonna happen (see, Uriel - you were right - we do speak like you guys espeially when feelings run high.
Sure enough, some of the member States are net recipients of EU dosh and are benefiting big time - that was the case with Ireland following their admission to the EU, it made an enormous difference to their economy and overall well being.
Ten years ago I was in Romania and we were gobsmacked with the poverty and the backwardness we saw in the country - if any nation deserved all the EU handouts they could get then it was Romania. They, in turn, are obliged all all times to abide by EU rulings and terms and conditions of membership otherwise it would be back to the drawing board for them if they fail on this score.
Nearby Bulgaria is finding all that just a tad difficult to maintain apparently - it seems that a Communist style mentality along with mafia style methods still exist over there to some extent. I'm not sure how the Bulgarians are going to keep the wheels turning satisfactorily as it seems to us that so many of their younger people are here in Western Europe in spite of the current recession - or "recent" recession as we're constantly being told is now the case.
As for Euro scepticism and anti EU sentiments exisiting in Britain then our geographical position on the periphery of Europe, plus the fact that we are insular in the true sense of the word, goes a long way to explain the perceived anti EU, anti Europe mentality in a fair number of Brits.
Sweden used to be in the same position (Denmark not so much) but now the Swedes are now losing their patience with us because of this attitude so many of us still hold. We really must get over ourselves as nothing can change the fact that Britain is physically part of Europe - barring any huge seismic upheaval nothing can ever change that, and the truth of the matter is this - a UK withdrawal from the EU would be suicidal madness....leaving us as an off shore island of no consequence. The British Empire died with Queen Vic, for goodness sake.....we are now Europeans in every sense of the word.
Flippin' 'eck as like (as they say in Lancashire, according to "Coronation Street") - our Language is the lingua franca of the whole show anyway - over 50% of the EU population as a whole are able to speak English and our language is officially the main one in used in Brussels, Strasbourg and the Hague (Den Haag), so we surely must feel at home over there at least....civilisation doesn't really end at Calais...in fact, in some ways at least it actually begins there! I always enjoy emerging from the Chunnel into the atmosphere of la Belle France. The last time I did that it was dull and drizzly in Folkestone, but fine and sunny in Calais.....places just 22 miles apart as the crow flies.
<<Of all the Americans I have come across here in the UK I can't recall any single one of them who communicated in grunts and had to resort to pointing gestures.....even in Glasgow where many of the locals do indeed grunt and point their way through life.....maybe I've just been unlucky not to have met any American who do this. In fact, all of them were highly articulate, and a fair number of them had an accent which was in no way harsh or an affront to the British ear.>>
The Americans who travel to Europe are probably not a typical random sampling of the population. Of course, your observations do prove that at least some Americans don't have to grunt and point.
BTW: Like most Americans, I've never set foot in the UK.
The Americans who travel to Europe are probably not a typical random sampling of the population. Of course, your observations do prove that at least some Americans don't have to grunt and point.
BTW: Like most Americans, I've never set foot in the UK.
<<UK 0.1% Nothing to be proud about at all for Brits, but that comes as no surprise to anyone at all, does it?>>
I assume this is really 0.1 rather than 0.1%? I suppose this means that 10% of students learn 1 foreign language, *or* perhaps that 9% learn 1, and 1% learn 2?
I wonder what the figures are in the US -- I'd guess that lots of kids study a foreign language (Spanish, in particular), but very few acually learn the language they are studying?
I assume this is really 0.1 rather than 0.1%? I suppose this means that 10% of students learn 1 foreign language, *or* perhaps that 9% learn 1, and 1% learn 2?
I wonder what the figures are in the US -- I'd guess that lots of kids study a foreign language (Spanish, in particular), but very few acually learn the language they are studying?
"I assume this is really 0.1 rather than 0.1%?"
The list was titled “Averare [sic] number of languages a pupil learns in secondary education by country”, and all the other figures were not percentages, so I think the % is just a mistyping (Damian seems to write more than he thinks). It means that on average the British learn 0.1 foreign languages. That means, every tenth British student learns a foreign language. So 10% of students learn one or more foreign languages. To find out what percentage learns at least two foreign languages, we'd need a lot more statistical data.
The list was titled “Averare [sic] number of languages a pupil learns in secondary education by country”, and all the other figures were not percentages, so I think the % is just a mistyping (Damian seems to write more than he thinks). It means that on average the British learn 0.1 foreign languages. That means, every tenth British student learns a foreign language. So 10% of students learn one or more foreign languages. To find out what percentage learns at least two foreign languages, we'd need a lot more statistical data.
Il Dottore - The Doctor
"He is a Bolognese University trained doctor who is learned and respected by others, but who in reality is foolish, ill-educated as seen by his mangling of the language, and prone to pointless, learned debates while his patients die. He is known by many names, including Graziano and Balanzone and Boloardo, but the character is always the same."
http://italophiles.com/commedia.htm#Common_Commedia_
Is English an inferior language?
Can you do this in other languages? In English you can be as 'exact' or as 'vague' as you want to be.
"Feeling Fragile"
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t14433.htm
"He is a Bolognese University trained doctor who is learned and respected by others, but who in reality is foolish, ill-educated as seen by his mangling of the language, and prone to pointless, learned debates while his patients die. He is known by many names, including Graziano and Balanzone and Boloardo, but the character is always the same."
http://italophiles.com/commedia.htm#Common_Commedia_
Is English an inferior language?
Can you do this in other languages? In English you can be as 'exact' or as 'vague' as you want to be.
"Feeling Fragile"
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t14433.htm