You need Tau Ceti's ecliptic coordinates to know it position relative to the orbit of Earth around the Sun. Those are -24.8159 degrees latitude and 17.8186 degrees longtiude. So Tau Ceti is almost 25 degrees below the ecliptic, not 15 above.

It certainly can be done and in fact has been done. Ulysses has a highly inclinded orbit around the sun with an inclination of 80.2 degrees. They did use Jupiter though.

You mean religions are better? You think crusades, genocides, jihads, dead sentences, stoning, human sacrifices etc., suppression of entire classes/genders..., you know, the stuff religions tend to do is better? Or worse? They might not be violent yet, but the hate they preach makes them fit in the religious nut job box quite well.

You intend to fight zombies with passports? To give them papercuts? Bundle them together and make a brick out of it?

During a gold rush many people became rich, but most of them were those selling supplies or services to the poor sods trying to find gold.

You're holding it wrong...

I don't see why it would be impossible to have an octarine camera (based on some special kind of imp) in Discworld like we have IR, UV and X-ray camera's in our universe.

The camera is capturing octarine glow! If you don't like it buy an inferior camera uncapable of this magnificent feat!

I'm from Belgium and still there (quite happy about it and not planning to leave). The royal palaces are property of the state and managed by an entity called the 'Koninklijke Stichting', they have not been sold. There has been a spate of sale and lease back crap by the previous government, though. De Gucht is not unbespoken (tried for insider trading and tax evasion) but corruption is not on the list. How much I dislike Sabam and wouldn't be suprised if they actually would try that, this is nothing more than a rumour and this is the first time I heard it. It certainly did not pop up in the belgian media and it sure would if they got air of it, they don't like De Gucht either.

Btw According to the 'Corruption Perceptions Index' Sweden is the 4th least corrupt country in the world, Belgium 19th. Columbia 80th, but being a 'rich' Belgian there helps I guess? The USA comes in at the 24th place.

Because it is nice to live in a country with good infrastructure, proper education and healthcare? Where you know that when someone comes of age he'll be taken care off, regardless of how lucky he got during his life? When you fall ill you won't be bankrupt?

Is it really that bad to pay 33% tax when the regular employee has to pay 50%? Sure 1 year of that 33% may be more than an employee pays his whole life, but that's not the fucking point. Everyone does his share and if you strike it big, it means you end up paying more but you still end up with a whole lot more.

Don't forget 50 years of communist economic mismanagment on quite a large chunck of Germany (and Europe).

No, they don't. Come back when the US elects their secretaries directly as well.

No, that's what the TSA agent does when you opt for the 'pat down'.

Which is typically one of the first groups to target when you try to limit free speech. If your journalists only report what you want, the masses will know what you want them to know, think how you want them to think and will express nothing you don't want them to express. Noone will speak out in public if they don't know what's happening and the oddball that does manage to find out what happens is very easily contained. The fact that you so easily dismiss this is quite troublesome. You have been so brainwashed by the idea that the USA if the protector of freedom of speech that you cannot even see the obvious fact that if the US of A was anything like a bastion of free speech it claims to be it would be on the #1 spot in that list.

Nope, it stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The atmospheric research is handled by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).