mrazekjeff comments

love is the DRUG

krumh310- you got me digging for more and thought you might enjoy this phonological idea from wiki: The full derivation is arigatō < arigatau < arigataku < arigatashi < ari + katashi. The medial -k- drops out from -aku- resulting in /au/. This then becomes /oː/ via regular phonological rules. Ari is a verb meaning "to be" and katashi is an adjective meaning "difficult". The original meaning of "arigatashi" was "difficult to be", i.e. "rare" and thus "special". This derivation tries to stem the word to its structural meanings and does not consider the current word's sentimental development and appreciated meaning. Even considering structural Japanese origin, the current usage and appreciated meaning could originate in the phonological similarity and meaning of the Portuguese "obrigado". we never truly know but it's interesting to consider

i was in brazil a couple years ago and learned their thank you is "obrigado". one of my best friends in the world and the best man at my wedding who is from japan, once told me "arigatou" is a japanese derivation of the portuguese since they came to kyushu long ago and have had a major influence. he's a wise man and i have a feeling he is right. no matter what, though, it's definitely one of the most important phrases learned in any language. deep down, we're all ONE.

Amazing how so many (especially here) still see it as US americans vs. them. What's happening in this world is way too connected for anyone with the slightest empathy to talk about country first. Not to mention how the U.S. was founded on exploitation. Wake up Sarge and crew and realize you don't deserve the peg you're standing on.

Shijukuboy, I agree, life is quite good here and your "granny next door" knows the bottom line. Still, to assert "they (foreigners) have never managed to suck out any of the wealth" is debatable. I think most of us agree to some extent that time is money and there are plenty of foreign corporations who set up here back when labor was cheap and have extracted more than enough wealth and are now moving on to the next cheap source. It all comes down to global equilibrium which will forever balance things out and plenty of nations have had it overly good for more than awhile.