Yuyu,

Thanks for the link to the talmud. I never had the will or reason to read the talmuds (either of them). Too much folk wisdom, much of which is silly or irrelevant, even if a few gems here and there, just like the hadith (which has some funny stories) -- the main difference is that the hadith are focused on one man while the talmud is much broader in scope.

Did you like the salmon mousse video? Doesn't that capture perfectly the upper class british snobbishnish?

What Australia needs is a few more US bases on Australian soil to defend our country, David G. Australian defence spending as a proportion of GDP is now LOWER than what we spend during the Great Depression. You want to play the moral superior who criticises your own people over everything? Do something constructive and criticise your own people over our miserable defence commitment.

Australia's main defence philosophy has been to fight to the last American.

Could you please tell me where this US Empire is? I remember half the map of the world being coloured red for the British Empire when I was a kid. But I just don't remember any bits coloured to denote the US Empire.

Oh, and most of those red bits on the map that have maintained their British inherited traditions like secular democracy and Common Law are now the most desirable countries to live in. How you can see nothing but negatives in your own culture, and think that every dysfunctional culture in the world is a victim of the secular democracies, is beyond me. But I suppose your philosophy does absolve you of any responsibility to think very hard.

Lego more us basis ? It would be a little more palatable if Bush and Obama had not trashed the US constitution.We now live in an oligarchy in which large corporations control our Govts.

Tony Abbott looks lik a goose with his shirt lifting comments.Russia has done everything in their power to avert a war with the USA. Who has the track record on aggression ? The USA wins by a mile.

Hey Arjay. If you hate American bases so much, why don't you go and live in a country which hates the USA and has no US bases?

Syria has no US bases. Lebanon has no US bases. Egypt has no US bases. Rwanda has no US bases. Nigeria has no US bases. Zimbabwe has no US bases. Take your pick and don't come back.