Je n'ai pas les accents pour ecrire mais j'ose dire quandmeme que vous etes completemnet bete, comme une bete.

Ces petites histoires de l'afrique que vous racontez sont triste, mais on ne sais qu'une parti de l'histoire. Si ils sont vos amis j'imagine que ils ont fait une betise culturelle, un insulte peut-etre, donc les clientes ont reagi mal...on ne sait pas.

The reaction one gets in foreign countries when one tries to speak a different language depends on the foreigner's attitude/approach and the native's disposition/mood. A bad combination of these factors could happen anywhere. I've certainly done a fair bit of "getting around" in difficult to communicate places, like Peshawar Pakistan, China, India, Vietnam, Japan, Cuba and many others. It's about trying. I've seen plenty of Americans be very unhelpful to non-native english speakers both at home and abroad...nothing like seeing an American who speaks NO Japanese become impatient with a japanese cab driver or restaurant server. Ugly.

Posted at July 11, 2008 6:34 AM in response to Top McCain Surrogates Questioning Obama's American-Ness

Spot on...

Posted at July 10, 2008 12:07 PM in response to Top McCain Surrogates Questioning Obama's American-Ness

As someone who has been abroad through the entire Bush administration (thankfully) I can say that I've witnessed the erosion of American prestige abroad over the past 7 years...

And as for the second language issue...well, yes. There are millions and millions of people outside the United States that speak and write many languages other than their native one; check out the hungry Chinese 20-something who speaks English, Mandarin and a local language fluently. She will soon be replacing that lazy MBA who can't really negotiate in another language because she can. That is everywhere. Americans are foolish not to spend the time and brain power to become fluent in at least one other language. Not only does it improve competitiveness but it's actually fun to do it, and it's not rocket science.

Posted at July 10, 2008 11:36 AM in response to Top McCain Surrogates Questioning Obama's American-Ness

What?...does Obama speak with an accent?

Posted at July 10, 2008 11:26 AM in response to Top McCain Surrogates Questioning Obama's American-Ness

You make a well-reasoned argument and frame the idea of a national or ethnic PTSD in fair terms.

That said, two wrongs don't make a right. The Palestinians had nothing to do with the Holocaust. The Zionist movement wasn't exactly a peaceful settlement expansion in Palestine. Germany didn't have to carve out a homeland for Jews in Bavaria and you're right, the US behaved terribly throughout all of it. I agree.

But Americans do not have a national debt to pay to the state of Israel and our nation should not blindly support any nation to the detriment of our national interests. AIPAC has a disproportionate amount of power even when compared to other ethnic or national lobbies, e.g. Cuban, Greek, Mexican, Armenian...you name it. Because of our blind support for Israeli policies and actions our own national interests and goals in the region suffer, and many of the region's conflicts cannot be resolved with the US as a biased party. That's just plain bad foreign policy; not anti-semetic or anti-Israel...The US will do more good for everyone with policies that reflect sound reasoning and rational statecraft.

In light of the bellicose rhetoric coming out of the Republicans regarding Iran we should all be concerned about having the next leader continue the current US policy course, particularly when one takes a step back and looks at who wants to have a military confrontation with Iran. It's a colosally bad idea, even worse than the Iraq invasion was, but Dopey-Joe Lieberman, the Republican Jackass crowd, and ISRAEL don't think so. Hmmm.

Posted at July 10, 2008 7:37 AM in response to Lieberman On Questioning Obama's Commitment To Israel: "Why Wouldn't I Do That?"

It is really interesting to have this "friend or foe" of Israel debate out of the closet. I loathe Lieberman but thank him for shedding light on our poor foreign policy positions, e.g. blindly supporting Israel. Until now the political suicide pact of not being a "friend of Israel" has been made behind closed Capitol Hill doors. Now the entire American public can read between the very big, 2.5 line spacing; our politicians are all beholden to AIPAC and are afraid to utter a word against their agenda (never mind vote agains settlement loans, supporting Palestinian right to a separate state, or heaven forbid an invasion of a neighboring country...)

I hope Lieberman keeps gassing on about Obama's lack of support for Israel in his grating, weak voice until November. Eventually Americans are going to realize that Israel is by a long measure the strongest nation (militarily) in the Middle East, is an undeclared nuclear power and receives a disproportionate amount of US taxpayer money to be a bully to her neighbors. Obama wants a rational policy in the region and one that supports our interests, not one regional partner's interests. The current policy of support Israel blindly is no where near rational or in our nation's interests.

Posted at July 10, 2008 7:12 AM in response to Lieberman On Questioning Obama's Commitment To Israel: "Why Wouldn't I Do That?"

They were taking control of their own country before we invaded...

I hope Obama doesn't pursue that specious "they have not met their political achievement benchmards" argument. The measure will be whether Obama, as the next president, doesn't hold on to the 4 permanent bases that we've spent billions of taxpayer dollars on so that we could control the flow of oil from that country.

To buy in to this idea that the Iraqi's are not holding up to their end of the bargain is nonsense. They didn't have a bargaining position to being with. I'm really sick of that baseless talking point, yet everyone parrots it as gospel now.

I want to hear the story about how the Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, and other Sunni Muslims are moving in as a security force that could replace our troops. Under the UN or the Arab league. Let our troops leave and allow those who actually speak Arabic and understand the culture help the Iraqis stablize their country.

And give them money to do it instead of American lives.

Posted at July 9, 2008 10:59 AM in response to Obama: Iraqi Prime Minister Wants Withdrawal Timetable

McCain is a crass old gasbag who would be dangerous in office.

Posted at July 9, 2008 10:50 AM in response to McCain Jokes About Killing Iranians

I think the operative word in your post is "now". NOW Americans care. It wasn't very long ago (Bush's reelection) when most folks thought it was just fine to kill Iraqis. That is the "ship has sailed" comment.

The numbers of dead Iraqis since our foolish invasion is staggering. Most everyone looks back and just gives them a good ole Texan, "bless their hearts" because they had that evil leader who led them astray.

We also had an evil leader who lead our nation astray. Wouldn't it be nice, as you say, if our onw leaders were held accountable for the misery they have inflicted on another nation?

Bless their hearts. They just believe in a different God.

Posted at July 9, 2008 10:42 AM in response to Obama: Iraqi Prime Minister Wants Withdrawal Timetable

Bush has been deaf to Maliki...he prefers Chalabi's Iraqi "dialect" of Bullshit.

good for Obama. He should "stay the course" on his message, then of course, deliver once elected.

As for Carly Fiorino, it's really comical that anyone has taken her seriously in her advisory role. She did such a bang-up job at HP we should only hope that she lends her critically poor insights to McCain.

Posted at July 9, 2008 10:30 AM in response to Obama: Iraqi Prime Minister Wants Withdrawal Timetable