[Petrarch of the VBB]

I would gladly move to Germnay given the chance, I am quite a fan of the country, and have a habit of wearing an ex-german army parka of the 1989 pattern.

The only drawback is I get called "Nazi" at school, some people are bloody stupid.

[CP5670]

I like Germany simply because it has produced more great mathematicians and physicists throughout history than anyone else. (France comes quite close in math, though) And they had a nice culture (scientific/militaristic combo) about a century ago too.

[Nico]

Originally posted by CP5670
7seeing as Germany is the biggest economy in Europe today. 7

That's not quite true. Germany was indeed very potent a few years back, but now they're sadly going through hard times ecomicaly wise ( terrible unemployment, etc ). As for the rest, I'll in complete lack of order:
I personally have nothing against german people, even during WW2, not all of them were nazi ( obviously ), but when you're a soldier, you have to obey, that's sad to say, but they did their job.
France didn't use the Marshall plan, Charles deGaulle was what you call an antiamerican and just didn't accept it.
Wasn't the RR Merlin used in Spitfires?
I guess the americans COULD live on their own ( they do have all they need: petrol, "food", etc ), but in todays worldwide economy, it would just be not wise for a lot of reasons.
"It is said that IBM supported Hitler." Never heard of that, but to be honest, that just sounds ridiculous
"So the U.S. "baited" Japan with Pearl Harbor." see above. Baiting the Japanese even today is laughable, so back then with the Emperor and all... If you want to know what pride is, look at the Japanese. Dirty tricks in wars in a thing, THAT is another. No country can force the Japanese to do anything they wouldn't decide by themselves in the first place and I do give them credit for that.

"On that point we agree - Versailles was sheer bloody vindictiveness with no foresight."
That's true, but it was cowritten with the USA, so the french really have the good role there, huh? Weel nope, sorry, we're not the only ones to blame ( but yeah that treaty was completly stupid in the first place, as unrealistic as it could be )
"Equally, when I go out for a meal I often drink European beer. I like European beer. " ( I love that post, you couldn't make more OT than that one, give me some credit for it ) European beer? Just in France ( which is not a country famous for its beer ) there's a lot of different beers, so european beer is a bit reductive. Nothing personal there, but I've talked ( well not me, but it's the same ) with an American girl who came to europe for hollidays, she planed to stay for a month and stayed for a year instead. What she said makes me wonder: according to her, the americans don't see Europe as a patchwork of different countrie, but as a whole, single, old big thinguy depicted by old fashioned, ridiculous clichés. She said the way it was shown on TVs was definitively headed for one purpose: make europeans despicable at most. I'mù not wanna defend the europeans, the frenchs or anything, but I'll say that the other way around is true too: if you see the USA trhough european TV, beleave me, you won't like the USA much. Accoring to TV, you're a bunch of McDonald grown people with a conditioned mentality, etc. A country of clones, all the same. I can imagine easily how it is on the USA TV for us: the exact same. Go wonder after that, why a thread like this one degenerates into: "french are stupid", "american wants to rule the world", "if you wear german clothes, you're a nazi", etc. I have yet to see antiamerican movements in  France, I have yet to see the 2003 Reich empire, I have yet to see a BigMac on the american flag with earth as a background
Mentalities have to evolve, but sadly, if it does, it's going the wrong way.
This post had no real purpose, thank you for listening

Oh, CP: you forget Greece, that's the real birthplace of maths You gotta love Greece if you love maths

[Grey Wolf]

Sorry about that comment, Venom. I really am.  If I could take that back, I would. But I can't. It was a stupid, unthinking comment. And to think that I alienated someone who (at least from what I've seen on the board) is a decent guy makes it even worse.

OK, here's random facts I should have mentioned before in my other, now wiped out post:
1. World War 1: We did nothing. We came in at the very end of the war. We might have tipped the balance, but I suspect the Allies would have won in the end anyway.
2. World War 2: Our primary contribution here was in industrial capacity. Also, the French Resistance played a vital role, getting information to the Allies, primarily Britain, with America playing a bit of a support role, which led to the defeat of Germany. Many members of the Resistance gave their lives to help the Allies defeat the Germans.  When you get right down to it, around 90% of the people in any given war are good, decent people. Just because they are on the other side from you is no reason to demonize them.

And Setekh?
As to World War I, it was messy. It was the result of dozens of convaluted alliances. If we had been major trading partners with Germany as opposed to England, odds are we would hae allied with the Germans.

EDIT: Oh yeah, forgot the criticism of my own country's actions:
1. The whole storing of prisoners in that base in Cuba without a trial is at least as bad as the affair with the French Jewish officer.
2. The revoking of our rights during the war on terror is similar to Hitler's early actions after seizing control of Germany.
3. Bush's feints at war with Iraq are mainly to gain control of the oil fields and was also to help buoy the Republican Party during the last election and to divert attention from the economic recession.

[Arnav]

Originally posted by Petrarch of the VBB
"Sod other countries, we are on our own, we can manage on our own, no where else exists).
 

That is quite funny. If the USA were live on it's own, without trade or links to other countries, the following items would never be available in the American market on a large, cheap scale: electronics, computers, clothes. Look at your Made in China label on your clothes if you don't believe me.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
Sorry about that comment, Venom. I really am.  If I could take that back, I would. But I can't. It was a stupid, unthinking comment.

let's just forget about that. I don't come here to have arguments with anybody.

[Gortef]

Pepsi Prison! :thepimp:

[Anaz]

Originally posted by Gortef
Pepsi Prison! :thepimp:

woah...when I read that, my first thought was the book "Snow Crash". Read it, it is a very good book...and a somewhat frightning view on the future.

[Sesquipedalian]

Try The Diamond Age, Analzon.  He wrote it later.  Very, very good stuff.

[Anaz]

Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
Try The Diamond Age, Analzon.  He wrote it later.  Very, very good stuff.

my mom rented a tape book of that...I ought to borrow it...