h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Alec - I read the link - that's why I referred to the local manager (and one Director) - it's still a Dutch company though - but maybe the Dutch come higher up your world view than French and Muslims?

As for the other, you've already posted the issue on this thread - you're going round in circles already!

sprout

hi sprout...

The two guys arrested are fr*nch nationals. Trying to skedaddle out of Cote d'Ivoire when arrested. The local manager is not a 'local'.
You did not refer to the fr*nch director of the dutch company in your post.

Who said anything about muslims???

The link i posted about the eu is from today. I don't think i have mentioned Strasbourg in this thread before now, but am ready to stand corrected should this not be the case.

alles klaar

alec.

A few Good quotes about the French I had sent to me this morning.

Enjoy


>
>"France has neither winter, nor summer, nor morals. Apart from these
>drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by
>prostitutes."
>--Mark Twain
>------------------------------
>"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one
>behind me."
>--General George S. Patton
>------------------------------
>"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your
>accordion."
>--Norman Schwartzkopf
>------------------------------
>"We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it ."
>--Marge Si mpson
>------------------------------
>"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure."
>--Jacques Chirac, President of France
>"As far as France is concerned, you're right."
>--Rush Limbaugh
>------------------------------
>"The only time France wants us to go to war is when the German Army is
>sitting in Paris sipping coffee."
>--Regis Philbin
>--------- ---------------------
>"The French are a smallish, monkey-looking bunch and not dressed any
>better, on average, than the citizens of Baltimore . True, you can sit
>outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more
>stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whisky I
>don't know."
>--P.J. O'Rourke (1989)
>------------------------------
>"You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the
>1940s who was still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have
>the face for it."
>-- John McCain , U.S. Senator fr om Arizona
>------------------------------
>"You know why the French don't want to bomb Saddam Hussein? Because he
>hates America , he loves mistresses and wears a beret. He is French,
>people."
>--Conan O'Brien
>------------------------------
>"I don't know why people are surprised that France won't help us get
>Saddam out of Iraq . After all, France wouldn't help us get Hitler out
>of France either."
>--Jay Leno
>------------------------------
>"The last time the French asked for 'more proof ' it came marching into
>Paris under a German flag."
>--David Letterman
>------------------------------
>"Only thing worse than a Frenchman is a Frenchman who lives in Canada ."
>--Ted Nugent
>------------------------------
>"War without France would be like ... World War II."
>--Unknown
>------------------------------
>"The favorite bumper sticker in Washington D.C. right now is one that
>says 'First Iraq , then France .'"
>--Tom Brokaw
>------------------------------
>"What do you expect from a culture and a nation that exerted more of
>its national will fighting against DisneyWorld and Big Macs than the Nazis?"
>--Dennis Miller
>------------------------------
>"It is important to remember that the French have always been there
>when they needed us."
>--Alan Kent
>-----------------------------
>"They've taken their own precautions against al-Qa'ida. To prepare for
>an attack, each Frenchman is urged to keep duct tape, a white flag, and
>a three-day supply of mistresses in the house."
>--Argus Hamilton
>--------------- ---------------
>"Somebody was telling me about the French Army rifle that was being
>advertised on eBay the other day -- the description was, 'Never shot.
>Dropped once.'"
>--Rep. Roy Blunt, MO
>-----------------------------
>"The French will only agree to go to war when we've proven we've found
>truffles in Iraq ."
>--Dennis Miller
>---- --------------------------
>"Raise your right hand if you like the French, ... raise both hands if
>you are French."
>--Unknown
>------------------------------
>Q. What did the mayor of Paris say to the German Army as they entered
>the city in WWII?
>A. Table for 100,000 m'sieur?
>-----------------------------
>"Do you know how many Frenchmen it takes to defend Paris ? It's not
>known, it's never been tried."
>--R ep. R. Blount, MO
>------------------------------
>"Do you know it only took Germany three days to conquer France in WWII?
>And that's because it was raining."
>--John Xereas, Manager, DC Improv
>------------------------------
>The AP and UPI reported that the French Government announced after the
>London bombings that it has raised its terror alert level from Run to Hide.
>The only two higher levels in France are Surrender and Collaborate. The
>rise in the alert level was precipitated by a recent fire which
>destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively disabling their military.
>-------------------------- ----
>French Ban Fireworks at Euro Disney
>(AP), Paris , March 5, 2003
>The French Government announced today that it is imposing a ban on the
>use of fireworks at Euro Disney. The decision comes the day after a
>nightly fireworks display at the park, located just 30 miles outside of
>Paris, caused the soldiers at a nearby French Army garrison to
>surrender to a group of Czech tourists
>

Oh dear.

French dead in WWII - 562,000 - 1.35% of the population.
US dead in WWII - 418,500 - .32% of the population.

sprout

Sprout,

I know it's difficult, but why in the name of Bad are you even bothering to respond to these people.

Let's be honest anybody who quotes Rush Limbaugh really isn't saying anything worth hearing.

I mean, it's not as idf the family fortunes of the last two republican presidents of the USA were founded by trading oil illegally with Hitler or anything, so maybe they have a point about WWII.

Statistics can be used to prove anything & yet Nothing.

Consider the Breakdowns

France:

Casualties (1939 - 1945):
Soldiers (Allied) - 132,437 Killed
Soldiers (Axis) - 19,500 Killed
Soldiers (POW's) - 60,000 Killed
Resistance - 107,000 Killed
Civilians - 79,000 Killed
Jews - 77,000 Killed
German Occupation - 26,000 Killed
Gypsies - 18,000 Killed

America:

Casualties (1941 - 1945):
Soldiers (Allied) - 408,200 Killed
Civilians - 1,000 Killed

If the US of A had been in Europe then their figures would have been substantially higher mainly as a result of civilian casualties.

look at Britain & Northern Ireland

Casualties (1939 - 1945):
Soldiers (Allied) - 298,950 Killed
Civilians - 64,000 Killed

Plus British Dominions & Dependancies

India

Casualties (1939 - 1945):
Soldiers (Allied) - 36,092 Killed
Soldiers (Axis) - 2,615 Killed
Civilians - 1,500,000 Killed

Also France did not join the Allies until the 25th August 1944 & withdraw on 8th May 1945 which is when, I presume we liberated them. So technically they were not at war but Occupied.

And you wonder why they have such a bad reputation. see here.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/text/france.html

I presume the Dutch, Belgians, Danes, Polish, Austrians and Czechs who were occupied somehow escape your eagle eye and are excused acitive duty in WWII for different reasons?

Really sprout and Blueshark you both know better than this - you should stop feeding the racist trolls and let them sink back under their bridge....
BCNU - Crescent

Blues

I know, I shouldn't feed the trolls.

It just irritates me that this stuff sits on the website without people challenging it - it feels like an implicit acceptance.

I mean, in the unlikely event of someone French clicking on the site, one of the first things they would see would be this - shortly before leaving.

I sort of wondered if there wasn't a case for arguing that the thread as a whole is a form of racism and should be taken down - but censorship isn't really the answer either. I don't know. It just depresses me that this is here on a site that I otherwise quite like.

My wife is French, many of my friends are French - I find it hard not to take this kind of thing personally.

sprout

Sprout -> "censorship isn't really the answer either."

Agreed, that's why I didn't bother to yikes anything here. And, honestly, I'm not sure it's the French who end up looking like looneys in this thread

Hate speech must be seen for what it really is and I agree with Sprout that one should counter such drivel with condemnation. Gobbels well knew the fact of repeat the biggest lie over and over it will become fact. Advertisers know that for a product to "stick" in a consumor's mind it has to repeated at least six times. We need more people of Sprout's convictions rather that the dithering "ditto-heads" that fuel hatred.

please do not associate anything that i have posted in this thread with that old list of bad 'jokes'.

If you bother to skim the backlog, you may notice that most of the links i provide are to the wonderful and worthwhile bbc news service.

These stories are valid illustrations of what i consider to be "what's wrong with the fr*nch" seen from my distant perch on the dizzying cliffs of the fl*rida coast.

What i would like to see is some discussion of the actions of "the fr*nch" as highlighted by those links.

i am not a racist, a nationalist or xenophobe.
nor do i live under a bridge.
i have read the complete works of Uderzo and Goscinny in the original language.
i am a man who has travelled the world (NOT as a tourist).
in every country i have either seen examples of, or even been the victim of 'cheating' by fr*nch people.
Certainly, other nations behave badly, but, in my opinion, not quite to the international extent that the fr*nch are capable of.

And yes, some of my best friends ARE fr*nch.

meilleur voeux...

alec.

...this should be interesting...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6079428.stm

eye witnesses claim fr*nch participation in the Rwandan genocide.

see what i mean?

alec.