diff --git a/application/bootstrap.php b/application/bootstrap.php
index abbf3ec..e5ad710 100644
--- a/application/bootstrap.php
+++ b/application/bootstrap.php
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ ini_set('unserialize_callback_func', 'spl_autoload_call');
 
 //-- Configuration and initialization -----------------------------------------
 
+/**
+ * Set the default language
+ */
+I18n::lang('en-us');
+
 /**
  * Set Kohana::$environment if $_ENV['KOHANA_ENV'] has been supplied.
  * 
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index c6b0963..f30ecb7 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -82,8 +82,21 @@ if (file_exists('install'.EXT))
 	return include 'install'.EXT;
 }
 
-// Load the base, low-level functions
-require SYSPATH.'base'.EXT;
+if ( ! defined('KOHANA_START_TIME'))
+{
+	/**
+	 * Define the start time of the application, used for profiling.
+	 */
+	define('KOHANA_START_TIME', microtime(TRUE));
+}
+
+if ( ! defined('KOHANA_START_MEMORY'))
+{
+	/**
+	 * Define the memory usage at the start of the application, used for profiling.
+	 */
+	define('KOHANA_START_MEMORY', memory_get_usage());
+}
 
 // Load the core Kohana class
 require SYSPATH.'classes/kohana/core'.EXT;