You could have heard a pin drop

[TURBO]

When in England , at a fairly large

conference, Condi Rice was asked by

the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans

for Iraq were just an example

of empire building' by George Bush.

She answered by saying, 'Over the years, the

United States has sent many

of its fine young men and women into great

peril to fight for freedom beyond

our borders. The only amount of land we

have ever asked for in return

is enough to bury those that did not

return.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a conference in France where a

number of international engineers

were taking part, including French and

American. During a break, one of the

French engineers came back into the room

saying 'Have you heard the latest

dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an

aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help

the tsunami victims. What does he intended

to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied

quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals

on board that can treat several hundred

people; they are nuclear powered and

can supply emergency electrical power to

shore facilities; they have three cafeterias

with the capacity to feed 3,000 people

three meals a day, they can produce several

thousand gallons of fresh water from sea

water each day, and they carry half a

dozen helicopters for use in transporting

victims and injured to and from their flight

deck. We have eleven such ships; how many

does France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval

conference that included Admirals

from the U.S. , English, Canadian,

Australian and French Navies. At a **CENSORED**tail

reception, he found himself standing with

a large group of Officers that included

personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English

as they sipped their drinks but a French

admiral suddenly complained that,

whereas Europeans learn many languages,

Americans learn only English.' He then

asked, 'Why is it that we always have to

speak English in these conferences rather

than speaking French?' Without

hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe

it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies

and Americans arranged it so you

wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE

ABOVE...

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83,

arrived in Paris by plane. At French

Customs, he took a few minutes to locate

his passport in his carry on. 'You have

been to France before, monsieur?' the

customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to

France previously. Then you should

know enough to have your passport ready.'

The American said, ''The last time I was

here, I didn't have to show it. 'Impossible.

Americans always have to show your

passports on arrival in France !' The American

senior gave the Frenchman a long hard

look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well,

when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day

in 1944 to help liberate this country,

I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show

a passport to.'

You could have heard a pin drop.
 
 

[Boid Fink]

Frenchmen are a bunch of pansies.

And I detest their food as well.

[TbayBucs]

Frenchmen are a bunch of pansies.

And I detest their food as well.

Do you like creole or cajun food?

[acacius]

The first was Powell, not Rice.  More or less.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/powell.asp

I've always thought the second would be more powerful without the gratuitous French bashing.

The third is a good way to start an argument with a European.  Trust me, I've gotten involved in enough arguments of the sort (from the pro-America side).  You'd have a more airtight case for going with not speaking Russian, although many of them will still argue. 

I'd bet the last one is apocryphal as well, but I can see something like it happening.

[Boid Fink]

Frenchmen are a bunch of pansies.

And I detest their food as well.

Do you like creole or cajun food?

That is bastardized food.  To thank the french for that is absurd.

Cajun food tips its hat to Africa, France, England, etc...

[kmitchell]

If it weren't for the French, we may still be a part of the British Empire today...

[Boid Fink]

If it weren't for the French, we may still be a part of the British Empire today...

Better than being French, IMO...

(lol)

If it were not for the Americans, French would never have given away the Statue of Liberty.

Or is it the other way around?

Or is it neither?

Hmmm...

Canada and France should be united as two countries that will be rude, cheap, and boring.  Night night fellas.

Eh?

[Dash Riprock]

Not a fan of the French, but to not like their food, come on!

[kevabuc]

If it weren't for the French, we may still be a part of the British Empire today...

That's like thanking a personal injury lawyer for winning your lawsuit. The French had every motivation to use the Revolutionary War as a means to weaken the British balance of power in the world. To say they had any righteous moral cause in helping America is only secondary to their true intentions. The French used us to first gain possession of British West Indie lands before they would put any real effort in actually helping the American cause. It took them 5 years to do so, the first two years the French spent waiting to see if the Americans had a chance to gain victory. It wasn't until after Saratoga that the bandwagonner French decided that they might just be able to profit from the cause.

There has to always be something in in for the French, usually with the least amount of actual work.

But if you really want to thank the French, go ahead and while you are at it go ahead and thank the Native American and African Americans for all their help even though most of their people were busy on the British side.

[loweredexpectations]

But if you really want to thank the French, go ahead and while you are at it go ahead and thank the Native American and African Americans for all their help even though most of their people were busy on the British side.

because of propaganda just like this thread. white americans were worse on native americans and africans than the english were, and they used this to their advantage.

the whole language speaking thing is a joke. comparing it to the germans is funny considering the english colonized 2/3 of the world and WE speak that language now. what's the difference? what would you care if you were born speaking german rather than english? you wouldn't know the difference. the point is, go out and learn another language and broaden your horizons instead of people expecting to speak like you (just like the germans, right?)

[dr3z]

But if you really want to thank the French, go ahead and while you are at it go ahead and thank the Native American and African Americans for all their help even though most of their people were busy on the British side.

because of propaganda just like this thread. white americans were worse on native americans and africans than the english were, and they used this to their advantage.

the whole language speaking thing is a joke. comparing it to the germans is funny considering the english colonized 2/3 of the world and WE speak that language now. what's the difference? what would you care if you were born speaking german rather than english? you wouldn't know the difference. the point is, go out and learn another language and broaden your horizons instead of people expecting to speak like you (just like the germans, right?)

Que? What do you do for a living lowered?

[loweredexpectations]

how is that relevant?

[kevabuc]

But if you really want to thank the French, go ahead and while you are at it go ahead and thank the Native American and African Americans for all their help even though most of their people were busy on the British side.

because of propaganda just like this thread. white americans were worse on native americans and africans than the english were, and they used this to their advantage.

the whole language speaking thing is a joke. comparing it to the germans is funny considering the english colonized 2/3 of the world and WE speak that language now. what's the difference? what would you care if you were born speaking german rather than english? you wouldn't know the difference. the point is, go out and learn another language and broaden your horizons instead of people expecting to speak like you (just like the germans, right?)

Use base this comment on what? It is true that many slaves joined the British, it is more because the British were offering freedom, a tactic they again saw as very disruptive to the American cause as opposed to any moral obligation for better treatment. In the end though, only a very few slaves actually got  their freedom from this British scam.

"Many thousands of African Americans who aided the British lost their freedom anyway. Many of them ended up in slavery in the Caribbean. Others, when they attempted to leave with the British, in places like Charleston and Savannah, were prevented. And there are incredible letters written by southerners of Africans after the siege of Charleston, swimming out to boats, and the British hacking away at their arms with cutlasses to keep them from following them. So it was a very tragic situation. And of the many thousands of Africans who left the plantations, not many of them actually got their freedom."
-- Margaret Washington, historian, on the evacuation of Charleston

The British did not promote freedom for slaves, they were master slave traders with slaving being second only to sugar as far as commercial interest to the British Merchant Marine. Their cruel treatment of slaves in the West Indies is well documented.

But, of course those slaves expecting freedom from the British would not know anything of these situations.

As far as the British treatment of Native Americans they saw them as obstacles in the way of conquest of North America and treated them as such. In fact it was the French that treated them with respect out of their desire to trade.

And who said anything about language, is this just a bonus random rant.

[loweredexpectations]

eeeeeasy kev, i was siding with you partner.

sorry, the U.S. burned their bridges with africans and americans which made the appeal of the british who came afterwards seem so sophisticated. thats what i base my comment on.

i went off on my own "random rant" about the language factor. read the story thats in "bold." 3rd down.

every story has a terrible question/statement presented for the opposition to rebut. it's pathetic.

[kevabuc]

eeeeeasy kev, i was siding with you partner.

sorry, the U.S. burned their bridges with africans and americans which made the appeal of the british who came afterwards seem so sophisticated. thats what i base my comment on.

i went off on my own "random rant" about the language factor. read the story thats in "bold." 3rd down.

every story has a terrible question/statement presented for the opposition to rebut. it's pathetic.

Ok, i didn't think to check the original post, not that I ever have anything against a good random rant, learned that from my wife.