The French

[moi621]

France. Wouldn't be a bad place if it weren't for the French.
I predict this thread will get closed real quick

The French just keep popping up. Like their outstanding leadership though out the Arab Spring, mercy roads in Syria, military and humanitarian aide to Libya. Ideas count, don't they.
Then they went quiet until recently.
It is now illegal to deny the Armenian genocide. I deny the genocide and term it an oopsy more akin to the Trail of Tears. Bad planning. Well the Ottomans were at war with the Russians and the Armenians were discussing a union of purpose with the Russians. Would those considerations be an offense under the new French law. I would not deny a mass death of the Armenian people occurred due to poor Ottoman administration.

Then there is the new French Soda Tax.
http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/afp/f...roves-soda-tax

And now the French State is at war with its' natural, historical oriented wine makers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...0,375980.story

Is this the French version of smoke screen news to avoid discussing their sagging Euro.
The French. And I grew up in a Francophilic family.

Moi
Liberte, Egalite, Fraternete except for Muslims. Occasionally Jews. Good food though.


Please no Jewish comparisons. Start a thread over it. Please. It will drift this thread devoted to,
The French.

[Riverwind]

I am not sure what your point is about the French however I have the utmost respect for the French so be careful.

Don't bad mouth the French.


River

[tugon]

When in Paris I was treated very kindly. I love the art, culture and food. Oh and I wish I had more time to have enjoyed the cheeses.

Oh and let us not forget the help we received from France during the Revolutionary War.

[moi621]

When in Paris I was treated very kindly. I love the art, culture and food. Oh and I wish I had more time to have enjoyed the cheeses.

Oh and let us not forget the help we received from France during the Revolutionary War.

At the risk of history,
remember the unpaid World War 1 debts. That would cover the Revolutionary War with interest.
The French did not offer support until after the victory of the Battle of Saratoga, some two years into the war.
So who financed American independence before the French?
Answer: http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=803

Great food.

I was in France in 1970 and 1974. Traveled alone and caught up to family friends. I looked up my grandmother's early, early 20th century medical school transcript at Montpellier and the French friends say the school administrators would not have been so obliging to a French person.

I am impressed that the French and the Russians have historically gotten along.
Cultural or being on opposite sides of the Germans?

Moi

[moi621]

Some admirable qualities.
My mother use to teach English to citizenship applicants, pre-WW2.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,4921057.story
France stiffens citizenship requirements
" . . . Under new rules that took effect New Year's Day, candidates for citizenship will be tested on French culture and history and will have to prove they can speak the language as well as an average French 15-year-old. They will also be required to sign a new charter setting out their rights and responsibilities.
Another passage states "applicants will no longer be able to claim allegiance to another country while on French soil." However, dual nationality will still be allowed. . ."

Even this Metric Clock, if broken, would be right twice a day.
http://www.cafepress.com/+metric_clo...le&pid=6673073
A working Metic clock for $15. Check the link.

Moi
Viva les citoyens


Please do not write to me en francais. No way! I am not fluent regardless of appearances.

[devi]

Among other things you don't have straight you probably need to read up on the WW 1 war reparation payment processes and which bankers were benefitting and then it's lead up to hyperinflation setting the stage for WW 2. One was paying three. Two were paying one. Two were recieving from one. And one was recieving from all three. Mysterious talk for an ignorant fool.

[Riverwind]

Moi, I love the metric clock, I would put it right next to my Binary Clock and my clock that keeps track of what day of the week it is, some days I just don't know its nice to look up and see what day it is.

As for their requirements for citizenship I am forever for a country making their own rules on such things, its none of our business one way or the other.

River


Remember don't say anything bad about the French, they are my newest favorite country and for good reasons.

[MacTheWolf]

It is now illegal to deny the Armenian genocide. I deny the genocide and term it an oopsy more akin to the Trail of Tears. Bad planning. Well the Ottomans were at war with the Russians and the Armenians were discussing a union of purpose with the Russians. Would those considerations be an offense under the new French law. I would not deny a mass death of the Armenian people occurred due to poor Ottoman administration.

.

Moi, in my opinion, anyone who denies there was a genocide committed against the Armenian people, is either a liar, misinformed or an idiot. Naturally, this just my opinion as a historian.

No offense to you or anyone who disagrees with me.

[Riverwind]

Of course this country committed genocide, against blacks, native Americans, among others. And in at least on incident the table got reversed, (battle of little bighorn).

It can also be said that just about every war we have been in its been a war of choice, this would include WWII.

River

[moi621]

Specifically,
If the Trail of Tears is genocide then
I agree the Armenian expulsion was also.
If we differentiate them as "administrative ooopsies" evidenced by poor or no supplies leading to starvation and susceptibility to mortal illness, that still leaves room for the more genocidal genocides of the Bosnian wars and the Holocaust of course.
Maybe we could compromise with a definition of primary and secondary genocide.
Please keep responses to these events,Trail. . and Armenian. . .
Yes I agree a policy of the American government toward the Native Americans was primary genocide. Premeditated, organized across decades, genocide.
Exterminate the Buffalo food source, death to woman, children and pacified ones at Sand Creek demonstrate it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topically, I hope the French are aware of the massive volcano in North West Germany that has been inactive for 12K years.
http://news.yahoo.com/german-volcano...211000098.html
German Volcano Could Devastate Europe
" . . It is not considered extinct, merely inactive. An eruption of the Laacher See volcano would destroy much of Europe as we know it. . . ."
The EU needs leadership to deal with this possible occurrence. If not the French, who?
The Americans after the devastation

One last topical ponderer. The French and the Russians have has a long history of mutual admiration except that Napoleon thing. And the French and the Russians are seemingly the most reflex dissed by the average American. Ideas. How come? The Franco-Russian mutual admiration over centuries and the American attitude toward both.

Moi
Topicalness counts toward the final grade.

[Losethem]

I like the French other than their tendency to own tanks that have five reverse gears and desiring to opt out of an alliance for many decades so they didn't have to pay for protection, all the while knowing that every other country around them was part of the alliance and would protect them by default. That has since been changed if I remember correctly and they are once again part of that alliance.

--LT

[Hakan1975]

Moi, in my opinion, anyone who denies there was a genocide committed against the Armenian people, is either a liar, misinformed or an idiot. Naturally, this just my opinion as a historian.

No offense to you or anyone who disagrees with me.

Interesting topic...As a member from thousand miles away, Istanbul... I wont comment on the events of the WW1, I just wanted to ask how logical is it to punish people with 35.000€ and put them in jail if they deny the "so-called genocide" in France?

How come this turned out to be the vote pote of the politicians? Sarkozy should not that be poor...

best wishes,
hakan

[moi621]

". .France had booted out more illegal migrants in the past year than ever before. . "
Will this be the mantra of Sarkozy's re-election campaign?
A "how to" lesson to America from an enlightened nation?

http://news.yahoo.com/france-expels-...175600828.html

[moi621]

Viva La France !

They decided against a corporationist recovery based on milking the vulnerable.
In America we face no such drastic choice.
I hope Hollande sticks to his guns and doesn't yield the principles that got him elected.

It does give us a window to compare a Progressive recovery vs the Corporationist recovery most western nations adhere.

Bravo France.


Moi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3LAt...eature=related
It sez it is the high quality version.
Although I always liked this one best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1vQ81jNWw
Some schmaltz and the Germans adhere to a Corporationist Recover.
Viva La France
And watch the second link for a good time.

[MacTheWolf]

I only have one bone of contention with France. They mistreated the Arab people in Algeria, badly. Other than that, I love French women and salute Frenchmen