"Councils, expect to be sued"

Per Edward Dolan:
When you get far enough north, the road stays frozen and so is not
constantly breaking up.

Somewhere I saw or read an interview with the Cohen brothers
about their movie "Fargo" (set in Minnesota).

One question was: "What is Minnesota like?"

Their answer was: "Siberia - with family restaurants."
--
PeteCresswell

"His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the prophet of the deep jungle"
wrote in message
...
On Dec 23, 5:08 pm, "Edward Dolan" wrote:
[...]
How much sense does it make to have thousands of languages in the world
today? I propose that English be made the universal language of all
mankind.
That alone would advance civilization more than anything else I can think
of.

I think other societies have grown smarter, having their own culture
plus English, which is used for trading with America.

When they lose their culture and language and watch too much American
TV, they grow dumb like Americans. Mexico and the UK are 2nd and 3rd
in obesity after America.

The one nation that is going to take us to the cleaners sooner or later is
China. The Chinese indeed are not dumb like us Americans. They know how to
focus and how to organize.

In all former ages of mankind, only the very rich ever got obese. That has
changed totally since the production of cheap food via industrial
agriculture. Now it is mainly poor people who are obese. Cheap food is just
chock full of calories. Eat all your meals at MacDonald's and you will end
up unhealthy ... and fat!

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Edward Dolan:
When you get far enough north, the road stays frozen and so is not
constantly breaking up.

Somewhere I saw or read an interview with the Cohen brothers
about their movie "Fargo" (set in Minnesota).

One question was: "What is Minnesota like?"

Their answer was: "Siberia - with family restaurants."

Fargo is the pits I must admit. However, the further north you go, the worse
it gets. How would you like to live in Winnipeg for instance? Winnipeg is
the coldest large city in the world.

I have done several week long organized group bike tours in North Dakota
(CANDISC). There was a group down from The Pas in Manitoba to do the ride
and they thought of North Dakota as being the Deep South.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

On Dec 25, 10:49*pm, "Edward Dolan" wrote:
"Uncle Dave" wrote in message

...
On Dec 24, 12:39 am, Doug Anderson
wrote:

"Edward Dolan" writes:
The most primitive peoples in the most benighted parts of the world seem
to
be able to speak English. There must be a reason for that. I attribute
it to
the simplicity of the spoken language itself.

No. Spoken Spanish (for example) is no more complex than spoken
English.

The reason basic proficiency in spoken English is so ubiquitous is
because, globally, the most popular pop-culture is in English.
Nothing to do with the influence of the British Empire then? * You

know, making English the lingua franca in places like India, North
America and a big slice of Asia...

The current spread is probably down to football more than anything

else, although it depends what you mean by "pop-culture". *Films and
TV programmes are more likely to be dubbed or sub-titled for the
mainstream in most countries than shown in English, and if you've ever
heard non-native English speakers (e.g. Americans) doing covers of
English songs, well, you'd know nobody is going to learn a language
like that...

Uncle Dave is quite right except when he thinks Americans are not the proper
exponents of English. The days of the British Empire are long gone, but the
American Empire is thriving. Americans do not think they have an Empire, but
we have had one ever since our victories in WWII. American English is now
the standard of the world. It is the English of England that the world is no
longer going to bother with.

Nah, can't let you get away with that one, if only because it's a
matter of perception dependant, as much as anything, on where the non-
native speakers come from that you converse with in English. People
only speak American English in areas which are influenced by the USA.
Half the population of Britain is usually engaged somewhere else in
the World teaching English and it shows. In my experience, half the
population of Europe thinks it can teach English once outside the
confines of Europe too! The World's second largest English speaking
population - India - mostly speak a form of British English not heard
elsewhere for the best part of a century. I'd say they keep the
language alive more than anyone else. Yanks - and increasingly Brits
- seem to think both vocabulary and grammar are pointless. Just
because MacDonalds et al are ****ing up the world's health, doesn't
mean they're ****ing up the language too. "Do you want fries with
that" won't get you very far in real life...

Dw i'n dysgau Cymraeg, now that *is* a language.

UD

Am 27.12.2010 23:05, schrieb Uncle Dave:
The World's second largest English speaking
population - India - mostly speak a form of British English not heard
elsewhere for the best part of a century.

I'd have thought they speak Indian English in India ...

Per Edward Dolan:
That has
changed totally since the production of cheap food via industrial
agriculture. Now it is mainly poor people who are obese. Cheap food is just
chock full of calories. Eat all your meals at MacDonald's and you will end
up unhealthy ... and fat!

"Food Inc"... (the DVD/Movie).

It's on NetFlix for online viewing tool
--
PeteCresswell

"Jens Müller" wrote in message
...
Am 27.12.2010 23:05, schrieb Uncle Dave:
The World's second largest English speaking
population - India - mostly speak a form of British English not heard
elsewhere for the best part of a century.

I'd have thought they speak Indian English in India ...

They do. Indian English speakers are hard to understand. Their vocabulary
may be OK, but their pronunciation isn't. They really need to work on that.

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

"Uncle Dave" wrote in message
...
On Dec 25, 10:49 pm, "Edward Dolan" wrote:
[...]
Uncle Dave is quite right except when he thinks Americans are not the
proper
exponents of English. The days of the British Empire are long gone, but
the
American Empire is thriving. Americans do not think they have an Empire,
but
we have had one ever since our victories in WWII. American English is now
the standard of the world. It is the English of England that the world is
no
longer going to bother with.

Nah, can't let you get away with that one, if only because it's a
matter of perception dependant, as much as anything, on where the non-
native speakers come from that you converse with in English. People
only speak American English in areas which are influenced by the USA.
Half the population of Britain is usually engaged somewhere else in
the World teaching English and it shows. In my experience, half the
population of Europe thinks it can teach English once outside the
confines of Europe too! The World's second largest English speaking
population - India - mostly speak a form of British English not heard
elsewhere for the best part of a century. I'd say they keep the
language alive more than anyone else. Yanks - and increasingly Brits
- seem to think both vocabulary and grammar are pointless. Just
because MacDonalds et al are ****ing up the world's health, doesn't
mean they're [not] ****ing up the language too. "Do you want fries with
that" won't get you very far in real life...

That is fine what you say about the influence of the British Empire, but
there have been other empires almost as great and yet their languages are
not prevailing anywhere. However, it has been primarily the rise of the US
in the 20th century which has made possible the dominance of English
everywhere. The British Empire got the ball rolling, but the US clinched it.
In the end, it is how we speak English in the US that will rule, NOT
Britannia!

Indian speakers of English need to learn how to pronounce it. The way things
are now, I can only understand their every other word.

Esperanto anyone?

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

On 12/27/2010 3:13 PM, Edward Dolan wrote:
"Jens wrote in message
...
Am 22.12.2010 00:09, schrieb Edward Dolan:
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota

Minnesota? Isn't that the state where you basically have two seasons? -
Winter and road repair ...

Is that good for cycling? How do you get along there?
Road repair is especially the province of Southern Minnesota (and all of
Iowa). The reason for it is all the freezing and thawing that goes on all
winter. When you get far enough north, the road stays frozen and so is not
constantly breaking up. The roads in Northern Minnesota are much smoother
than the roads in Southern Minnesota.

They often do not repair the gravel roads here in Iowa. Wide, moderate
inflation tires (for cyclists) or a pick-em-up truck (for motorists) are
useful.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On 12/27/2010 3:40 PM, Jens Müller wrote:
Am 27.12.2010 21:40, schrieb His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the prophet
of the deep jungle:
I predict Cantonese to be the next major language....

Why not Standard Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua)?

Mmmm, Mandarin: http://www.beveragewarehouse.com/images/products/6491.jpg.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.