Day 61: France
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  Day 61: France
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Author Topic: Day 61: France  (Read 2439 times)
they don't love you like i love you
BRTD
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« on: March 24, 2006, 11:39:03 AM »

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fr.html

Discuss.
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Cubby
Pim Fortuyn
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« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2006, 12:06:04 PM »
« Edited: March 24, 2006, 12:13:52 PM by Pym Fortuyn »

Vive la France!!

I love that scene in Casablanca where the whole cafe sings La Marseillaise to defy the Nazis.

This thread soon be filled with France-hating Republicans whose party uses the country as a punching bag. There is a surprising amount of hatred/dislike in America these days towards France, and its not all b/c of the Iraq War.

J'aime France parce-que ils es hypercool. They also realize that there is more to life than work and business. That being said, their economy needs a lot of improvement. They also need to increase their birth rate in order to lessen the need for immigration.

Segolene Royal for President! Smiley

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afleitch
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« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2006, 12:30:18 PM »



I like her and I don't know why Smiley But i'm a fan of Sarkozy and François Bayrou too should they run.

I was in Paris last summer and there is something fantastic about the city that is hard to describe. Especially on those lingering summer evenings as you stroll beside the Seine.

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DanielX
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« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2006, 12:48:06 PM »

Good bread, nasty economy.
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Jacobtm
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« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2006, 03:23:10 PM »

The French sure do like rioting...

And racism.
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Undisguised Sockpuppet
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« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2006, 03:48:20 PM »

Well they make good pastries...
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WMS
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« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2006, 05:23:36 PM »

I hear that if you can get outside Paris the people are actually quite nice. Smiley
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Gabu
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« Reply #7 on: March 24, 2006, 09:34:49 PM »

I hear that if you can get outside Paris the people are actually quite nice. Smiley

I hear that everything gets better outside Paris, in fact.
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opebo
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« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2006, 11:09:58 PM »

If americans had any sense, France would be their role model. 

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angus
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« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2006, 10:15:57 PM »

If americans had any sense, France would be their role model. 



would be??!  The french are full of fear and disgust and bigotry.  they're either a dead or dying empire.  Most of us wish France would not be our model for anything.  Unfortunately, there are far too many parallels for us to claim that they aren't.  France now is us in fifty or a hundred years.  they're a bloated festering corpse of an empire, growing more smelly by the day.  Just as the USA will one day be.  Take a hard look at the irony of your last post, si'l vous plait.

I got a postcard just yesterday.  from a friend vacationing in paris.  He's having a grand time, and commented on how Louis, my son's eponymous, is considered one of their good kings, according to a display he saw in a museum.  He didn't mention which Louis though.  I don't buy the bit about the french being haughty and arrogant, but then I've lived in Boston and in Texas, which are full of, respectively, haughty and arrogant people, so by comparison no one seems haughty and arrogant any longer.  But then I really don't think Bostonians are as haughty as people say they are and I don't think Texans are as arrogant as people say they are.  Actions and words often get taken out of context by idiots, I think.  Anyway my buddy says they're having a grand time.  Even with their two toddler children in tow.

But I do know that the French economy is in a slump, with aggregate GDP growing by only 1.4 percent last year.  And unemployment in France, already high by american standards, has edged up in recent years and is around 10 percent.  For les français under 30, the unemployment rate is about 23 percent.   comment le mauvais!

By every objective and measurable standard, the French economy is faltering.  Between 1999 and 2004, the French share of the world export market for wine declined from 25 percent to 19 percent.  And haute couture is showing signs of stress as well, with french art exports in serious decline.

And they're every bit as arrogant as we are, but without the clout that we anglophones have.  Even recently Chirac and his two deputies walked out of an european union summit in Brussels because the president of a French business association addressed the session in English rather than French.  Apparently Chirac interrupted Ernest-Antoine Seilliere's presentation and demanded to know "why on earth" he was speaking in English.  Seilliere simply replied, "Because that is the accepted business language of Europe today."

Oddly, their college students, which in most societies are  the standard-bearers for paradigm changes, have become the strongest advocates of the status quo. They are trying to cling to the social security blankets that have protected their parents' generation but which many economists say are crippling France's integration into a new world economy.  The cradle to grave welfare system has crippled the machine, and everyone knows it.  Think we're full of false bravado yet inner fear, opebo?  Ask the average Frenchman about "globalization" and they'll quake.  They love pushing their culture on everyone (sound familiar???  it should.  We do it as well.)  Yet, perhaps hypocritically, when Ipsos recently asked 500 people between the ages of 20 and 25 the question "What does globalization mean to you?"  Forty-eight percent of those surveyed responded, "Fear."  Fear of everything.  Everything, that is, except telling the world what they should think.  (And surely at least this must sound familiar.)

I suppose technically, the French Empire died the day an uneducated, inferior, poorly trained, but patriotic, force of hillbillies from Dien Bien Phu kicked the french army's ass on a hot, humid day in 1954.  But rather than dying gracefully, they enlisted the Yankees, a burgeoning, but as yet unsophisticated, world player.  Like getting your stronger, but less mature, younger brother to fight your battles.  So at the request of the French Government, we sent "advisors" to Viet Nam to save them.  Except that we didn't save anyone.  Just killed off about fifty four thousand of our own.  And a boatload of dollars.  Maybe two or three boatloads.  But at least it got us to thinking about how an empire should and shouldn't properly function.  We owe the french our thanks in that regard.

anyway, dead (or dying) empires are a bit like old people.  we love 'em, but they sure don't smell very good.  n'est ce-pas?  It's like, I really do care for you grandma, and I love your stories, but please don't make me come up there and give you a big sloppy wet kiss. 
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DanielX
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« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2006, 09:19:25 AM »

Angus, I'm not sure if you need to bother. Opebo doesn't give a rat's behind about unemployment; he thinks all you need to do is take more money from the rich and give it to the unemployed as entitlements.

I read the same article you did, angus, and it's completely correct, but the chances of opebo believing it are about as large as that of my favorite video game characters suddenly appearing in real life and deciding to have a party in Armonk, NY.
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Michael Z
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« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2006, 12:20:12 PM »

If americans had any sense, France would be their role model. 

It is. I mean, the US Constitution?
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angus
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« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2006, 02:52:47 PM »

I read the same article you did, angus, and it's completely correct, but the chances of opebo believing it are about as large as that of my favorite video game characters suddenly appearing in real life and deciding to have a party in Armonk, NY.

Busted!  Oui, mes amis, about half of the facts I posted were already gathered for me by Molly Moore of WaPo.  And the postcard was written by a friend to me, and that gave me the other half.  Still, it's a valid point that I (and Michael) have made. 

Oh, and I haven't showered since Friday morning.  Seriously.  It's very liberating.  Vive la stank!  Admittedly, the crust forming between my cheeks is beginning to make them stick together and I'm having to shift about in the seat to get comfortable, so I don't know how long I can keep this up this tribute to France.




And I'll give a rat's ass since opebo doesn't:

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DanielX
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« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2006, 05:55:53 PM »

Oh, and I haven't showered since Friday morning.  Seriously.  It's very liberating.  Vive la stank!  Admittedly, the crust forming between my cheeks is beginning to make them stick together and I'm having to shift about in the seat to get comfortable, so I don't know how long I can keep this up this tribute to France.

There's a reason the French have bidets, you know... Tongue
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opebo
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« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2006, 06:16:34 PM »

If americans had any sense, France would be their role model. 

would be??!  The french are full of fear and disgust and bigotry.

I agree that fear and hatred - the prime emotions of americans - are similar.  

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Good lord man, that empire, such as it was, is ancient history - little or no relevancy now.  I was referring to the lifestyle of the average Frenchman compared to the average american.

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Althhough of course aggregate GDP growth is an almost meaningless figure in terms of the quality of life of the worker (distribution matters more), I think you need to look at per capita GDP growth.  In France, with very little population growth, a GDP growth of 1.4% per year is plenty.  The US population grows by around 1% per year, so one should subtract about 1% from US GDP growth when comparing it to European growth rates.

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Not really an important figure if the welfare state is generous enough.

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Hah!  Good for him!

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Why on earth would they want to 'integrate into the world economy' if it means their own impoverishment?

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What garbage.  You will swallow anything your betters tell you, worker.   

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Yes, because they understand that the purpose of 'globalization' is making the share of production given to the working class even smaller.   In other words, a politically imposed increase in inequality is being masked by the ridiculous mantra of 'globalization'. 

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At least their culture is pleasant.  The american one is a disgusting misery. 

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Of course, that is because French workers understand what is going on under the guise of 'globalization', and you do not.  You are a typical american worker, angus.

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So why doesn't this monstrous american empire die?  The same fine Vietnamese defeated the US immediately afterward. 

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My comments referred to France itself, not the long lost empire, and made a comparison between the miserable lifestyles of the average american worker and his unlivable culture, and the relatively pleasant situation of a similar person in France. 
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angus
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« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2006, 08:18:51 PM »

You are a typical american worker, angus.

I am indeed.  Thanks for clearing everything up for me, being as how I'm a typical exploited American moron and all.  I was watching the Simpsons, but right now they're marketing PSP using two dustballs with exaggerated Mexican accents.  Very cool.  I'm not sure what PSP is, but I know I need to buy one.  In fact, I think I'm going to run out right now and head to Wal-Mart and get one.  I'll let you know how it works out.  Bon soir!

(Si je décide que quelque chose que vous avez dit vaut la peine la réponse, je te dirai plus tard, mssr. opebo)  Meanwhile, I will admit to being the quintessential american worker (as opposed to a french one):  I just couldn't take the body-cheese any longer.  I showered. 

Not so liberating, but it certainly feels better.

Smiley
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DanielX
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« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2006, 09:19:55 PM »


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Not really an important figure if the welfare state is generous enough.

You see... opebo is utterly predictable. Tongue

Somebody ought to go and write an opebo-generator, a little program that generates random opeboisms.
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angus
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« Reply #17 on: March 26, 2006, 09:51:53 PM »

LOL.  I had nearly the same thought.  many times.  still, this is more fun, don't you think?
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MODU
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« Reply #18 on: March 27, 2006, 03:07:51 PM »



"Chirac sulks as English drowns out French"

(Skipping a little bit...)

The walkout came after Baron Ernest-Antoine Seillière de Laborde, head of the main European employers' organisation, Unice, was invited to deliver the opening address of the summit, to heads of government and state from all 25 EU nations. Mr Seillière, a French steel tycoon, began to give his speech in English.

Mr Chirac interrupted and asked why he was speaking in English. "I'm going to speak in English because that is the language of business," replied the former chief of the French employers' group, which has been at odds with Paris.

(Cont....)


Sorry Chirac, but this is a global environment.
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TB
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« Reply #19 on: March 27, 2006, 03:59:52 PM »

Beautiful country and great people. I really like Montpellier and the South of France in general. Paris is probably my favorite city after New York.
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minionofmidas
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« Reply #20 on: March 27, 2006, 04:03:13 PM »

Beautiful country and great people. I really like Montpellier and the South of France in general. Paris is probably my favorite city after New York.
Marseille is probably my favorite city after Frankfurt so we can see eye to eye on that. Smiley
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TB
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« Reply #21 on: March 27, 2006, 04:16:09 PM »

Beautiful country and great people. I really like Montpellier and the South of France in general. Paris is probably my favorite city after New York.
Marseille is probably my favorite city after Frankfurt so we can see eye to eye on that. Smiley
Smiley I must admit that I'm not much into the competition between the two cities. I actually like Marseilles too, but don't tell anyone from Montpellier about that, or I'll be lynched next time I go back there.
My parents both studied at the University of Montpellier that is why we have a special connection with the city and the backcountry.
It really seems like every northern European likes the south of France of obvious reasons. Plus people get to meet once a year!
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opebo
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« Reply #22 on: March 28, 2006, 01:53:29 AM »

You see... opebo is utterly predictable. Tongue

Somebody ought to go and write an opebo-generator, a little program that generates random opeboisms.

You and angus are just as predictable, DanielX.  We all have our viewpoints and ideologies, and we are consistent.

The difference is, of course, that you two are comically duped.
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