On my way back home this afternoon, I stopped in at the local Chinese restaurant to get some carry-out food. When I walked in, there was an old man standing at the counter, ordering. After he placed his order, he said something along the lines of, "So I hear China is going to war with the U.S. Or is the U.S. going to war with China?"

Puzzled, the guy behind the counter said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've not heard about any war." The old man began talking about the Chinese government being involved with Iran, and the U.S. fighting Iran, and the U.S. being dependant on the Chinese economic system, and so on...

The guy behind the counter, who was Chinese himself, handled it very professionally. When the old guy was leaving, the cashier said, "I suggest you not talk about such things next time without thinking about what you are saying and who you are saying it to." Not once did he argue with the old guy, nor did he raise his voice.

So yeah, that old guy needs to be flogged. That would be like me walking up to him and saying something like, "So you're going to die soon..."