Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: aldo_14 on August 03, 2006, 03:11:02 am
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5240572.stm
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Hmmm, i detect a hint of Orwell and 1982,.....................
VICTORY GIN anyone?
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I laughed the day they announced this, and I still laugh now.
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The day that the name of a friend potato is politically important is a sad day indeed. This was school-yard mentality through and through.
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Can someone paste the article? At the moment the computer with my proxy software has no internet. :(
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rench fries are back on the menu in the US House of Representatives, three years after the name was ditched in favour of "freedom fries".
House Republicans renamed fries and French toast in 2003 to protest at France's opposition to the war on Iraq.
The patriotic name change hit the headlines at the time but the change back is getting much less coverage.
A House official would only say that fries are no longer being offered under the "freedom" nomenclature.
The Washington Times newspaper contacted aides of the two congressmen behind the move to "freedom fries" to see if they could shed light on the change back.
"We don't have a comment for your story," a spokeswoman for Republican representative Bob Ney told the newspaper.
At the time, Mr Ney, who together with Walter Jones pushed for "freedom fries", said the action was "a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France".
The move followed the lead of a North Carolina restaurant whose owner said he got the idea from similar protest action against Germany during World War I, when sauerkraut was renamed liberty cabbage and frankfurters became hot dogs.
The switch to "freedom fries" was seen as reflecting the anti-French sentiment among some lawmakers who felt President Jacques Chirac betrayed the US by opposing its policy on Iraq.
The Senate cafeterias never changed their menus.
A spokeswoman for the French embassy asked about current French-US ties told the Washington Times that the two countries were working closely on the Middle East.
"Our relations are much more important than potatoes," she said.
"French fries are back on the menu in the Capitol, back on the presidential dinner menu and our relations are back on track."
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i dont really pay attention to the name, i just eat
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ehh i ahte the french anyways...
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The day that the name of a friend potato is politically important is a sad day indeed. This was school-yard mentality through and through.
Ah, friend potato, I barely knew ye...
ehh i ahte the french anyways...
You did? How did it taste?
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ehh i ahte the french anyways...
You did? How did it taste?
like surrender :p
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like surrender :p
*Uproarious Laughter* Oh, that's funny!! :blah:
Now tell the one that doesn't suck!
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anything that a country does that works against the current administration is good for the US. any small gesture to foil their evil plans is the most patriotic thing a person can do.
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I still reckon the French should have asked for the Statue of Liberty back :p
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The day that the name of a friend potato is politically important is a sad day indeed. This was school-yard mentality through and through.
Ah, friend potato, I barely knew ye...
I. hate. typos. :p
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The day that the name of a friend potato is politically important is a sad day indeed. This was school-yard mentality through and through.
Ah, friend potato, I barely knew ye...
I. hate. typos. :p
You mean, "typoes"? :p
Think Dan Quayle.
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I still reckon the French should have asked for the Statue of Liberty back :p
And I'm sure the millions of American families in the early-40s would have loved to have their family members back that had to go and clean up Europe's messes, as I'm sure they'd also like their $2.2 billion that rebuilt it. :doubt:
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I still reckon the French should have asked for the Statue of Liberty back :p
And I'm sure the millions of American families in the early-40s would have loved to have their family members back that had to go and clean up Europe's messes, as I'm sure they'd also like their $2.2 billion that rebuilt it. :doubt:
Well maybe if the US hadn't been filled with so many isolationist pricks at the time, the repair bill wouldn't have been so large! :doubt:
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I still reckon the French should have asked for the Statue of Liberty back :p
And I'm sure the millions of American families in the early-40s would have loved to have their family members back that had to go and clean up Europe's messes, as I'm sure they'd also like their $2.2 billion that rebuilt it. :doubt:
Well maybe if the US hadn't been filled with so many isolationist pricks at the time, the repair bill wouldn't have been so large! :doubt:
Well, I'd like to apologize on behalf of the US government for having to pull the country out of a massive economic depression all the while this was happening in Europe. The last thing we needed to get involved in while repairing the economy was another pointless European war that should have not even happened.
Maybe if the majority of Europe hadn't acted like little children following WWI and decided to ignore the USA's advice to not severely punish Germany, but instead exact sheer revenge on it, the war wouldn't have even happened! :rolleyes: Maybe if Britan and France hadn't been run by similar pricks who were looking to appease Hitler than do anything to keep him from expanding, Hitler wouldn't have been as powerful and emboldened as he had been!
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You like to throw WWII in the back in the face of the French but forget that without their support it's doubtful you would have even had your independence in the first place.
So how about showing them some ****ing gratitude instead of always pointing out how you rescued them in WWII.
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Maybe if the majority of Europe hadn't acted like little children following WWI and decided to ignore the USA's advice to not severely punish Germany, but instead exact sheer revenge on it, the war wouldn't have even happened! :rolleyes: Maybe if Britan and France hadn't been run by similar pricks who were looking to appease Hitler than do anything to keep him from expanding, Hitler wouldn't have been as powerful and emboldened as he had been!
Hey, it wasn't all Europe. The United State's fundamental lack of understanding regarding European power-politics was bound to cause disaster. Sure, the fact that Western Europe was quick to lay the blame on Germany did contribute greatly [i'd like to see you disagree if you had lived through the period], but I don't remember you guys making protest to Germany being left out of post-war negotiations.
Getting back to the war itself, if anyone should be credited with France making it out in one piece, it should be German leadership, they did a hell of a lot more to win the war than anyone else did. :rolleyes:
It's also worth noting that WWII was an inevitable, it was WWI that was the pointless war created by a chain of events linked by freak chance, and a good, heaping portion of arrogance and stupidity by Europe's leaders at the time.
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Maybe if the majority of Europe hadn't acted like little children following WWI and decided to ignore the USA's advice to not severely punish Germany, but instead exact sheer revenge on it, the war wouldn't have even happened! :rolleyes: Maybe if Britan and France hadn't been run by similar pricks who were looking to appease Hitler than do anything to keep him from expanding, Hitler wouldn't have been as powerful and emboldened as he had been!
And maybe Communism will work this time around...
'Maybe' doesn't prove anything. It's more probable that WW2 would still have happened, eventually.
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I still reckon the French should have asked for the Statue of Liberty back :p
And I'm sure the millions of American families in the early-40s would have loved to have their family members back that had to go and clean up Europe's messes, as I'm sure they'd also like their $2.2 billion that rebuilt it. :doubt:
Well maybe if the US hadn't been filled with so many isolationist pricks at the time, the repair bill wouldn't have been so large! :doubt:
Well, I'd like to apologize on behalf of the US government for having to pull the country out of a massive economic depression all the while this was happening in Europe. The last thing we needed to get involved in while repairing the economy was another pointless European war that should have not even happened.
Maybe if the majority of Europe hadn't acted like little children following WWI and decided to ignore the USA's advice to not severely punish Germany, but instead exact sheer revenge on it, the war wouldn't have even happened! :rolleyes: Maybe if Britan and France hadn't been run by similar pricks who were looking to appease Hitler than do anything to keep him from expanding, Hitler wouldn't have been as powerful and emboldened as he had been!
It's easy to throw stones at appeasement when your country had only a peripheral involvement in the bloodiest war in history less than 20 years earlier. Particularly when said country withdrew from the very peace organisation it aimed to create.
For all the petty, immature American sniping at France, one very real truth needs to be noted - the USA never faced a land invasion that the likes of France faced in WW2. Nor, I notice, does the brave fighting of the Resistance and Free French Forces merit remembrance; for example the 400,000 french troops who participated in the re-invasion of France and subsequently liberated Paris (after Paris revolted, Eisenhower held back the Allied Army, but under pressure allowed the French to go ahead due to their fearing a repeat of the massacres seen during the Warsaw uprising).
So in actuality, the French, despite being outclassed by a more modern army and abandoned by their government, played a massive role in prolonging and eventually winning the war; particularly on the African front during the dark days when Britain stood alone as a sovereign, allied european nation.
I love, incidentally, how the US has frittered away so much gratitude by being so ****ing arrogant about their role war and using it as an excuse to snipe at anyone who criticises them; 'look, we have 10 times the population and are out of artillery range!'. Put the US on the borders of an aggressive USSR or Chinese and facing invasion, then you can talk about France.
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WWI was in fact the second bloodiest war at the time it happened.
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WWI was in fact the second bloodiest war at the time it happened.
Define bloodiest.
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are we going by gallons, or wounds-per-person...
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The Taiping rebellion of China killed 20m, but it didn't have the same sort of geopolitical impact (plus lasted longer) as the blood and trenches of WW1. In any case, WW1 was unquestionably the bloodiest war in history from the context of appeasement; the first war in western history to turn the public away from the notion that war was a glorious and good thing, to the concept that war is to be avoided at all costs.
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...to the concept that war is to be avoided at all costs.
Gotta love how western society has a memory-span of about 20 ****ing minutes, eh?
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For all the petty, immature American sniping at France, one very real truth needs to be noted - the USA never faced a land invasion that the likes of France faced in WW2. Nor, I notice, does the brave fighting of the Resistance and Free French Forces merit remembrance; for example the 400,000 french troops who participated in the re-invasion of France and subsequently liberated Paris (after Paris revolted, Eisenhower held back the Allied Army, but under pressure allowed the French to go ahead due to their fearing a repeat of the massacres seen during the Warsaw uprising).
So in actuality, the French, despite being outclassed by a more modern army and abandoned by their government, played a massive role in prolonging and eventually winning the war; particularly on the African front during the dark days when Britain stood alone as a sovereign, allied european nation.
This needs to be qualified, rather badly.
The US has faced land-based invasion before. The War of 1812 springs to mind. (Mexico has invaded the US before, as recently as shortly before WWI at that. Hardly a serious threat, but it happened...)
Any serious student of history remembers the Resistance, and also remembers that it was only effective because it had US and British support; regardless the Resistance contributed much to the war. The Resistance accomplished a great deal in the days after D-Day to immobilize German units outside of Normandy and deserves the true credit for liberating Paris (instead of the Free French 2nd Armored).
It is an unpleasant truth that a student of history would also probably like to forget the Free French, who, despite the contributions you have stated, were less then helpful in the conduct of the war. Probably their greatest contribution to the Allied victory was to offer approval of the Transportation Plan before D-Day. Even the Poles did more in the physical task of winning the war, and were much less disagreeable in the process. If one examines the official histories of various services from Allied nations, the Free French are regarded with something akin to exasperation. Even Vichy is given a better treatment. While not always reliable on moods (the Admirality official history in particular seems bad about this), they are fairly unanimous on the subject.
Furthermore, to state the French were outclassed in terms of technology is simply untrue. They were outclassed in terms of doctrine perhaps, but to claim their army was outmoded and unable to defeat the Wehrmacht is to do them a gross disservice. The French army was regarded as the best in the world for good reason. They had excellent equipment, including superior tanks to the best model the Germans had in service at the time (the Panzer IIIE) and considerably better artillery. Their weakness lay not in their troops or their equipment, but in their commanders. The French high command just rolled over and died, giving up before the majority of their army had a chance to even see, much less fire at, a German soldier.
It is instructive to consider the peace that Vichy obtained was to far better terms then that of any other nation conquered by Germany. The French believed they could not win, perhaps, but Germany believed that the Wehrmacht could still lose. It is also instructive to consider that the French created an unusual decoration after WWII, probably the only one of its kind. It is awarded to those who have disobeyed their orders when it was the right thing to do, a reflection of the deep feeling of betrayal by their leadership in the French armed forces.
French contributions in Africa were, frankly, nonexistant. This is one of the campaigns I've had a particular interest in, and if one wishes to remember what nation besides Britain contributed most to victory at El Alamein, look to Australia. (The Aussies really deserve a great deal more credit then they get in both World Wars, particularly WWI.)