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

...in which I am hoping he will explain what is wrong with eating horsemeat.

twas no simulpost...


whisky... didn't mean to miss your posting...

a genuine simulpost...

Probably was a simulpost, despite the time difference... I suspect your little epic took an awful lot longer to type than mine

whisky: yep... probably... not only the digibox is slower than a PC [] but i also had to change some of my wordings...

still.. i didn't want people to think that i was ignoring your posting... and, as i said, hopefully you're right and everything will be back to normal soon...

talk later...

loup

"i don't personally give a toss what some researchers think of the french if they are so quick to generalise and confuse chirac with the french... as far as i'm concern i won't waste my time convince them that they're wrong: they've obviously got their mind made up already..."

Tsk, don't worry we (well, I) aren't being personal . Frankly (no pun intended), I don't dislike the French more than any other nation, I just think they seem to have a lot of faults as well as virtues. I'm Scottish anyway, and we're one of those (rare) countries that has some historic friendship with the French (and neither of us care for the English much ).

Incidentally, by coming here you may have got an idea of what some threads on this site look like to any poor American researcher who comes across them, only they seem to get more shameless vitriol.

So, as your countrymen would say, erm, "Ca va, bien?"

My French isn't so good.

Yes, I must admit the parallel to yank bashing threads had crossed my mind a little too...

But there again... we all know that Americans _are_ all evil, so it's not exactly the same

















Only joking, honestly

Here's an article about the recent complaints against the French from US pundits and politicians.

Who is "Ungrateful"?
America, France, Fascism, and Debts of History
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=3093

"For the last two weeks at least, leading United States Congressmen, editorialists and others have been bashing the French for their supposed failure to support international 'law and order' by joining America's reckless and dangerous campaign to needlessly massacre Iraqis..."

[It's sort of an opinion piece, in case that's not clear above.]

My heartiest congratulations to Zagreb, who posted :

"...incidentally, by coming here, you may have got an idea of what

some threads on this site look like to any poor American Researcher

who comes across them,...only they (the americans) seem to get

MORE SHAMELESS VITRIOL. "




*pops bottle of Australian and shares it around...*




my thanks to all who took part...

(some of whom could not even be bothered to check out MY P.S. to see where i was from)


and now, unlike all those other threads that have been 'yank-bashing'
for well over a year now, this thread is officially 'over'.

except i may be back tomorrow to award a few 'prizes'





alec the cloun...

DamnDamnDamn

I can't believe he closed down the campsite an hour before I found it.

Anyway, I have to make one comment, among what might have been several. The French are a wonderful people with one gross character-defect - their arrogance.

There's a testament to it in the (English) language. Whenever we need a word to express an extreme of holier-than-thou pig-headedness, we borrow one from the French. For example : Hauteur, Chauvinism...

I rest my case.

Pin

There are arrogant people in all cultures, your argument it is far too simplistic and youre generalising. Everyone is different!

BTW it is strange so called 'intellects' people who have been to university can spout such rubbish, yet who I do not even have an A level let alone a degree can see that you can not generalise about a nation or a people.

By the Way the French media not poodles to the French government, they openly critisce them. In Le Monde they condemed their own government for their actions with Zimbabwe.

I know why your sore about France it is because they wont toe the line with the US in their proposed war with Iraq. Why do not you admit to it. Look the real reason this thread is ending is because you could be prosecuted under the race relations act.

I am so angry at the arrogant attacks against France and the French people. Xenophobia is not funny.

JA

Surely Pinniped is being droll ... he represents the readership of the Daily Mail.

yep... arrogance is one of our qualities...

as for this thread not having become another yank-bashing one... yep, i refrained from listing what's wrong with america remember?!... even tho' i would have been in my full right to do so under the unwritten right to reply of this site...

the thing is, if i don't accept that the french be blamed for their government's actions, i won't blame the americans for their government's ones either... fair is fair... and i would believe that it complies with the house rules as well...

oh and do thet starr out the words america and americans in the yank-bashing threads BTW?!...

alec might not have noticed but it was not his arguements that offended me but the fact that he starred out the words french and france [i explained why] and that he carried on doing so _even so_ he knew he was offending at least one of the french researchers on this site...

one thing i apologise for is that i didn't check alec's page first before replying... having done so i might have replied in a more light hearted way... but hey nobody isn't perfect... _even_ a frenchman...

not all french people eat horsemeat BTW... and some _even_ eat at MacDo ...

to go back to the qualities and defaults of a specific nationality... err... did we _really_ want to go there?! it would be have been as pointless and dangerous as listing the irish, scottish, welsh, english's ones... oh and american's ones of course... while i could be tempted to list the defaults of the parisiens who unfortunately have _allegedly_ the monopole of arrogance in france, i do know from experience that not all parisiens should be put in the same labelled box...
it's the same with americans i suppose... i was tempted to rant about them, especially after what alec wrote about the french... but what would have been the point?!... apart from eventually making this thread the longest thread on h2g2 that is...

people should realise than when they express opinions in a public place they will be bound to upset others... and obviously they will get the answers that seems appropriate by those who have been offended... i _actually_ restrained myself as i didn't want to transform this thread into a slagging match...
and, while some of my best friends are not americans [tho' one of them is from quebec...]... i respect them as much as i respect everyone else...

mmmmm... might have not made much sense there... but, hey, who cares... i think what i really wanted to say is that i will be happy to talk with alec in the future... it might have to be on another subject tho'...

all the best everyone...



loup

darn... my digibox is far too slow...

my previous post was supposed to come under pinniped's one...

I don't consider my comment to be a generalisation. I offer it as fact. Those words are certainly in my dictionary.

Yes, I am well-educated. That's a fact too.

And I am by any standards well-travelled. I have lived and worked among very many cultures, with France being one of them. That's a fact.

I am not xenophobic. Period. I do, however, have a sense of humour.

I'm a bit mystified by your tone. The French have been fair game from these shores for centuries. There's fun to be had here, repartee, some verbal fencing. There are thought-provoking ideas to share.

But your comments are just sour and negative. Honestly, if you don't want clever conversation and some new viewpoints to consider, what are you doing in h2g2?

Many people on this site and some in this thread, myself included, have taken care to express their views about the Iraq situation in various forums. Maybe you should try reading a few of those postings. You shouldn't come in shouting about simplistic generalisations and then pour in spectacular examples of your own.

But, as you've noted, the thread's closed...

Pin

Oh bugger. Everything's gone out of order.

The above posting from me (if it still is, that is) with the was to Jedi Apprentice.
To Silverwolf, you're , the coolest Frenchman around here, in fact.
To Dr Trout...Daily Mail? Now, that IS droll...

...Oh yeah, and to Alec...you think you can stop us THAT easily?

pinniped: who was your reply too?!...

making fun of other nationalities is ok if it's done in a proper manner [to a point]... you know very well that i can take a joke... as long as it's not one destined to humiliate or put down anyone's nationality...

alec's thread was there to put down the french and show them as the scum of the earth... bad move from his part there.. but even so i won't have any problem talking to him eventually...

the "having or not having a sense of humour" depends also on many factors... having worked where they print the sun for two years i do know that sometimes even an harmless joke can hurt like hell...

if your reply was for katrine... err.. what's the problem with her reply?!... she answered from her heart and aired how she feels about comments made in this thread... good on her...
if people are allowed to air what they think about other nationalities why not the same for those who don't agree...

they are some good points into what katrine said... i remember a book i read years ago... it was titled "the irish joke" or something like that... it explained why people make fun of other nationalities... worth a read methinks...

and yep... the thread has been closed but why should that stops us using it...

delayed simulposts courtesy of my digibox...

oh dear...

i missed the posting with the compliment about me being the coolest...

blimey.. this thread is becoming more interesting since it has been closed...