Now that we're done building a democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe the Egyptians will hire us to improve their organization.

So which is the "natural" process, decay from neglect or the active attempt to restore the monuments? I am so confused here.

Polls really shouldn't matter given the over-whelming number of peace and reconciliation rallies from Benghazi to Jakarta.

No, probably European. Americans don't sit back and wait for the international community to do something.

Nice to hear a rational voice. I can see how people get charged up emotional on issues pertaining to culture, heritage, "great art", even natural history, but at the end of the day there are other things that matter. In fact, people who get overheated about rather petty issues are what causes most of the violence in this world. Take a diamond for instance - it is just a compressed chunk of carbon that can be synthesized in a lab, but look at all of the world conflicts that are financed by the trade of this rock that is usually never put to one of its only functional uses - that is to cut hard materials such as glass and stone.

Don't even get me started on gold, which is extremely under-utilized as an electrical conductor simply due to its sentimental market demand and those who seek to profit from such demand.

So what you're saying is that there was a group of people minding their own business who built pyramids, but a horde of violent, religious fanatics showed up on horseback, took their lands, scattered the indigenous people, destroyed their civilization, took charge and settled the area in massive numbers that over the centuries crowded out the indigenous peoples, all while trying to force them to convert at the point of a sword. And in recent years the conqueror's descendents have been making money showing off the pyramids as part of a major tourist industry. Why do I feel like I've heard this happening elsewhere?

Unfortunately, some parts of the world just aren't ready for democracy.

Sucks to be you. Oh, and your rate has gone up $80 per month.

Meanwhile, I'm ditching cameras and insurance companies altogether and going full Mafia. "You hit me, we hit you!"

True. If you don't break something then you're not getting your money's worth. Time to put some big tires on that Hummer and run down a brick mailbox. You only live once!

Then if you ARE in an accident, they will deny your claim and if you fight it in court they will charge you with insurance fraud to encourage you to settle for little or nothing. If you're going to take on the insurance company you might as well tape a throw-away phone to the under-carriage of an insurance executive's sports car. When they try to jack up your rates for bad driving, ask them if VP Joe is paying the same rate - because if he's not he ought to be.

It's a free market; consumers can lobby Congress just as much as any corporation can. Of course, if the consumers of the world start organizing and taking collective action, that will only show that they are just a bunch of unpatriotic Communists trying to destroy the free market.

Most of Wisconsin doesn't even have cellular coverage. Where are all these bars at?

Off-topic, but I shop at Hispanic and Asian grocery stores. No loyalty cards and prices are much better. No quality issues either, though there are a few stores I wouldn't shop at.

So a school requires attendance by force of law, requires parents to use a specific make and model of product, and you think that constitutes a free market for setting the price?

From Wikipedia:

"A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity. Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service and a lack of viable substitute goods."

Also from Wikipedia:

"Monopolies derive their market power from barriers to entry -- circumstances that prevent or greatly impede a potential competitor's ability to compete in a market."

Please enlighten us with your definition of a monopoly and why it isn't applicable to this situation.

The alternative is to set up a certification process, but no one seems to be stepping up to the plate to do that, especially if there is just one player in the market. And no, I'm not going to buy my kids a cheaper $10 knock-off that keeps shutting down during a standardized test or takes 60 seconds to plot a function during a 30 second pop quiz. Unfortunately the poor end up suffering competitive setbacks in their education because their technology is not up to par.