Comments by Peter Piper 2

No Anti-Greek prejudice here. To tell you the truth, both the Greek and (northern-)Macedonian positions seem fairly ridiculous.

1) I have never heard of a country attempting to dictate to a neighbour what the name of their country should be. It seems to set a very bad precedent.

2) It seems to me that unless another country has a trade-mark on that name there is no legal reason to prevent them from using it.

This does not mean that I support the other side either.

3) Knowing that this is a matter of great, (though incomprehensible) concern to the Greek side, I cannot understand why the (northern-)Macedonia side does try harder to come to some sort of acceptable compromise

4) The (northern-)Macedonians could submit the matter to the World Court or some other neutral body for arbitration. The neutral body could come up with three possible compromise names that might satisfy both sides.

5) It's not as if Macedonia is really some sort of fantastic name anyway. It reminds me of Alexander the Great, but I don't see why any country would necessarily cling to the name of an ancient nation that is long gone. So I am also baffled by the (northern-)Macedonia side.

6) I also find it very strange that many people writing here are using the 'FYROM' name, knowing full well that it is likely to irk the other side. That doesn't seem like a good way to earn good will in a debate.

All a great pity, really. I hope that sensible people will prevail and come up with a mutually acceptable solution.

The U.S. stole (or 'won fair and square') a large chunk of Mexican territory. It seems to me the least they could do is allow Mexicans to come and work there as partial and belated compensation.

Well yes. As a matter of fact the Greek side has not offered me anything. I have nothing to do with the conflict over the naming of southern or northern Macedonia. I have never set foot inside that country and it's a matter of little concern to me what the country is called. Why not put the matter to an independent arbitration body that is competent to solve such disputes? It doesn't seem like direct negotiations over the issue have born much fruit.

Your comment was very prophetic. There are now over a thousand comments. I'm not sure how many of those are actual Greek Nationalists or just some outsiders who think the whole thing is quite ridiculous.

United States of America Demands South America change its name

The US today demanded that South America must immediately change its name or take the consequences.

"This is outrageous," said the US foreign minister. South America has blatantly copied the name of our country and used it in its own name.

South America can't just come along and imply that they are Americans. Obviously it is because they have territorial ambitions and perhaps are trying to steal our history as well. "

A coalition of foreign ministers from South America pointed out that they have been called 'South America' for longer than anyone can remember and no one has ever objected.

In a special address to the nation the US defense secretary stated that, "if South America refuses to change its name this could mean only one thing -- War."

Several observers have pointed out that since no one is officially in charge of South America, there is no one who could change its name, even if they wanted to.

The mind-numbing Macedonian debate continues. In which one country attempts to 'steal history' and the other country attempts to dictate what name they are allowed to give themselves.

The so-called ObamaCare is almost identical to the Republican plan put forth in 1994. Since this is a 'Conservative' plan, and contains most of the elements that conservatives demanded, why would any conservative oppose it?

In spite of the many attempts to explain the problem, this is completely baffling to anyone in the rest of the world.

The US state of California borders the Mexican state of California.

The province of Luxembourg in Belgium borders on the country of Luxembourg.

The province of Limburg in Belgium borders on the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.

The state of Amazonas, Colombia borders on Amazonas Venezuela.

Bretagne (Brittany) in France is next to Grand Bretagne (Great Britain).

Somehow people manage to live with this situation and have friendly relations with their next-door neighbor.

Touche'! Good point. Please consider my earlier comment null and void. :)

It is really annoying when a founder names a website after him or herself. So any time I type in the web address I have to be reminded again and again of the name of the person who came up with the idea.

That is why I have never used Angie's List. Also, the name reminds you of Schindler's List as well. Fortunately, very few other web companies have followed this pattern.

I really wish the Economist wouldn't spend as much time as it does on US politics.

It is really annoying when a founder names a website after him or herself. So any time I type in the web address I have to be reminded again and again of the name of the person who came up with the idea.

That is why I have never used Angie's List. Also, the name reminds you of Schindler's List as well. Fortunately, very few other web companies have followed this pattern.

I understand you take it very seriously. But to most outsiders the argument seems quite silly.

There are plenty of countries that have a state or province with the same name as another country and nobody spends even one minute out of the day worrying about it.

He who resorts to name-calling is the one who loses any argument.

Actually I write a series of humor articles for an online magazine, and live in New Mexico.

I believe you misunderstood my posting.

The official name of the country of Mexico is "Estados Unidos de Mexico", which is translated as "United States of Mexico".

My posting correctly stated the name of the country of Mexico.

USA demands Mexico change its name

The United States of America today demanded that Mexico, whose official name is Estados Unidos de Mexico (the United States of Mexico) must immediately change its name or take the consequences.

"This is outrageous," said the US secretary of state. Mexico has blatantly copied our name and used it in its own name. We are the only true United States. Mexico can't just come along and call themselves the exact same thing. "
The Mexican foreign minister pointed out that Mexico has been called 'United States of Mexico' for longer than anyone can remember and no one has ever objected.

In a special address to the nation the US President stated that, "if Mexico refuses to change it's name to something we like, this will mean only one thing -- War."

Late tonight Mexican politicians were still working feverishly on a compromise name-change. One such suggestion being tossed around is, "Los Verdaderos Estados Unidos de Mexico" - "The Real United States of Mexico". However most observers believe this name change is unlikely to satisfy the U.S.

As of late last night it is still hoped that an all-out confrontation can be averted.

Amazing that an issue like this, which really has no effect on anything at all in the rest of Europe, gets 800 comments.

France and Britain in Latest Country-Naming Row

The country of France has registered a complaint with the EU over it's neighboring country's name, 'Britain'.

Britain, they correctly note is the name of a French province, Bretgne 'This country is impinging on the name of a bona-fide French province, sure proof that country calling itself Britain has territorial ambitions! Not only that, but we actually trade-marked the name back in 1214,' says the French foreign minister.

Not so, says the president of Britain. 'We have inscriptions going back to roman times referring to Britain'.

Nevertheless, Britain has asked if Belgium wouldn't mind if they call themselves 'The Formerly Great Britain', to which France has agreed to but only on a temporary basis. Tensions still are running high on both sides of the channel.

Belgium and Luxembourg in Latest Country-Naming Row

The country of Belgium has registered a complaint with the EU over it's neighboring country's name, 'Luxembourg'. Luxembourg, they correctly note is the name of a Belgian province. 'This country is impinging on the name of a bona-fide Belgian province, sure proof that country calling itself Luxembourg has territorial ambitions! Not only that, but we actually trade-marked the name back in 1214,' says the Belgian foreign minister.

Not so, says the president of the smaller country. 'We have inscriptions going back to roman times referring to luxus - hence the name Luxembourg'.

Nevertheless, the smaller country has asked if Belgium wouldn't mind if they call themselves 'The Former Grand Duchy of Luxembourg', to which Belgium has agreed to but only on a temporary basis. Tensions still are running high on both sides of the border.