1) Which is the only country in the world to have dropped bombs on over twenty different countries since 1945?
2) Which is the only country to have used nuclear weapons?
3) Which country was responsible for a car bomb which killed 80 civilians in Beirut in 1985, in a botched assassination attempt, thereby making it
the most lethal terrorist bombing in modern Middle East history?
4) Which country's illegal bombing of Libya in 1986 was described by the UN
Legal Committee as a "classic case" of terrorism?
5) Which country rejected the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua in 1986,
and then vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international law?
6) Which country was accused by a UN-sponsored truth commission of providing "direct and indirect support" for "acts of genocide" against
the Mayan Indians in Guatemala during the 1980s?
7) Which country unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in December 2001?
8) Which country renounced the efforts to negotiate a verification process for the Biological Weapons Convention and brought an international
conference on the matter to a halt in July 2001?
9) Which country prevented the United Nations from curbing the gun trade at
a small arms conference in July 2001?
10) Aside from Somalia, which is the only other country in the world to have refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?
11) Which is the only Western country which allows the death penalty to be
applied to children?
12) Which is the only G7 country to have refused to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, forbidding the use of landmines?
13) Which is the only G7 country to have voted against the creation of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998?
14) Which was the only other country to join with Israel in opposing a 1987
General Assembly resolution condemning international terrorism?
15) Which country refuses to fully pay its debts to the United Nations yet reserves its right to veto United Nations resolutions?
answer to all 15 questions:
The United States of America
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Fermat’s Last Theorem
Fermat’s Last Theorem, in mathematics, famous theorem which has led to important discoveries in algebra and analysis. It was proposed by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat. While studying the work of the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus, Fermat became interested in the chapter on Pythagorean numbers—that is, the sets of three numbers, a, b, and c, such as 3, 4, and 5, for which the equation a^2 + b^2 = c^2 is true. He wrote in pencil in the margin, “I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.” Fermat added that when the Pythagorean Theorem is altered to read a^n + b^n = c^n, the new equation cannot be solved in integers for any value of n greater than 2. That is, no set of positive integers a, b, and c can be found to satisfy, for example, the equation a^3 + b^3 = c^3 or a^4 + b^4 = c^4.
Fermat’s simple theorem turned out to be surprisingly difficult to prove. For more than 350 years, many mathematicians tried to prove Fermat’s statement or to disprove it by finding an exception. In June 1993, Andrew Wiles, an English mathematician at Princeton University, claimed to have proved the theorem; however, in December of that year reviewers found a gap in his proof. On October 6, 1994, Wiles sent a revised proof to three colleagues. On October 25, 1994, after his colleagues judged it complete, Wiles published his proof.
Despite the special and somewhat impractical nature of Fermat’s theorem, it was important because attempts at solving the problem led to many important discoveries in both algebra and analysis.
Note a^n means "a" raised to nth power
Fermat’s simple theorem turned out to be surprisingly difficult to prove. For more than 350 years, many mathematicians tried to prove Fermat’s statement or to disprove it by finding an exception. In June 1993, Andrew Wiles, an English mathematician at Princeton University, claimed to have proved the theorem; however, in December of that year reviewers found a gap in his proof. On October 6, 1994, Wiles sent a revised proof to three colleagues. On October 25, 1994, after his colleagues judged it complete, Wiles published his proof.
Despite the special and somewhat impractical nature of Fermat’s theorem, it was important because attempts at solving the problem led to many important discoveries in both algebra and analysis.
Note a^n means "a" raised to nth power
Monday, January 15, 2007
What does love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,
"What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got
arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6
(We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6
"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8
"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt."
Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8
And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a
contest he was asked to judge.
The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly
gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
"Nothing, I just helped him cry"
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