NEWS: Tokyo Governor Sued for Insulting French

Originally posted by subz
The French gave us the metric system any way. Should we all ridicule that system as unwieldly?

Indeed, that was a wonderful & beneficial thing Subz.

Originally posted by Astronomer68

Originally posted by subz
The French gave us the metric system any way. Should we all ridicule that system as unwieldly?

Indeed, that was a wonderful & beneficial thing Subz.

So, there ya go, They have thier international system of measures, (which I already mentioned as being better). The language points go to someone else.
And as a defender of French pointed out, in an earlier post...
There is more than one way to say the SAME number. That makes it even more "user Friendly"...not..

Originally posted by Otts
djohnsto - actually, it would be false to say that English words haven't entered the French language. "Weekend", for example, or even "parking", or Internet words like "web" - and in France, "mail" is a very popular translation of "email".

There are some purists - a minority - who would like the French language to be purged of English expressions. I for one agree that a language which doesn't evolve dies. And the reality is that despite what those purists say, French does integrate some English words.

However didnt the French government make up a French equivalent of computer and forbid their employess to use the English version?

It all seems to be a bit petty and in Quebec, dont they also force the use of the French language?

Ive no problem with people using or promoting French, but when the government starts interfering or people start suing, it all seems a bit sad and desperate.

Originally posted by Flyer
However didnt the French government make up a French equivalent of computer and forbid their employess to use the English version?

It all seems to be a bit petty and in Quebec, dont they also force the use of the French language?

Ive no problem with people using or promoting French, but when the government starts interfering or people start suing, it all seems a bit sad and desperate.

Dude, are you Canadian? I am and it isn't bothering me any.

BTW what has any of this got to do with the topic?

I took French years ago in high school and ordinateur meant computer, I don't think it's a particularly new word.

Things you would never hear a French person say; "and we throw that part of the animal away".

Back to the topic:

I think it is a joke, pure and simple.

end of the day, do the British sue Chirac for what he said? Are any French people? No.

Dislike the guys views, speak up and get him out of office - pure and simple.

Originally posted by Marid Audran
in Japan Japanese people are really all that matter:

www.japantimes.co.jp...

What's wrong with that? She was applying for a government job, not a private company job. Like in America where foreigners can't hold a president level government job, she couldn't hold a management level government job. This was due to her nationality (South Korean), not because of her South Korean racial identity.

Japan has it's own set of problems... especially when it comes to racism... I have heard that 3rd gen. S.Koreans still can't get Japanese citizenship even though they were born and raised in Japan and can't speak Korean while native brazilians are granted citizenship to join the Japanese national soccer team...
corruption in local governments is rampant just like 600 years ago... this means anybody that has a government post of prominence (especially the governor of Tokyo) is a champion brown-noser, so the comment made by him comes as no suprise to many... the lawsuit can be seen as common people frustrated at the ignorance and sheer stupidity of elected officials... the part about the french guy filing the lawsuit is secondary to the fact that the people that care about the image of Japanese people are steadily getting heated over the inconsiderate-ness of the "ruling class"

Japan has it's own set of problems... especially when it comes to racism... I have heard that 3rd gen. S.Koreans still can't get Japanese citizenship even though they were born and raised in Japan and can't speak Korean while native brazilians are granted citizenship to join the Japanese national soccer team...
corruption in local governments is rampant just like 600 years ago... this means anybody that has a government post of prominence (especially the governor of Tokyo) is a champion brown-noser, so the comment made by him comes as no suprise to many... the lawsuit can be seen as common people frustrated at the ignorance and sheer stupidity of elected officials... the part about the french guy filing the lawsuit is secondary to the fact that the people that care about the image of Japanese people are steadily getting heated over the inconsiderate-ness of the "ruling class". Taking their money is the only way of telling these beaurocrats that they $%&#ed up!!!

As far as protecting language and culture... I understand that both French and Japanese are languages which will have less and less importance worldwide... but even then preservation of the language and the culture is paramount... American people wouldn't understand because america has had no culture until the 20th century and this culture is the only thing besides weapons that the US exports... overzealous marketing of this culture is infact destroying indigenous culture, artforms, and ideologies across the world the same way humans have destroyed whole environments for developement...

sorry for the double post....

[edit on 14-7-2005 by OYG]

.... I guess this means that the people in the EU countries, like Canada and others, do not have a right to Free Speech. Here in Amerika, they now have hate crimes, as many of you are probably aware, which means we have a three-tiered justice system. Speech originates in thought,..... George Orwell, call your office. Cultural marxism has taken hold, and it must be put down before it goes much further.
No.... the Metric system, in America, is un-neccessary.

Wow...I came in here expecting a good ol' Ishihara bashing for the racist, xenophobic prick he is and walk into people slinging mud over French Canadians...huh? I'm a triffle bit confused.

As was noted above, Ishihara has a long history of shooting his mouth off and then making either half assed appologies or none at all. Yet the salarymen/OL sheep in Tokyo keep voting him back in.

An interesting side note to this was that a UN rapporteur, Doudou Diene was here last week investigating discrimination among Japan's minorities (burakumin, Japanese born Koreans & Chinese, Ainu, etc). Anybody care to take a guess at who refused to meet with this guy?

Also, just to clarify...he wouldn' t have all the gaijin shot during an earthquake...just rounded up and put into detention camps. What a sweety, huh?

I guess the only decent thing I can say about Ishihara is that at least his son seems to be an ok guy. He's a weather forecaster for one of the major Japanese networks and shows up on just about every other variety show on TV...which in itself is anoying enough, I guess.

From OYG "..... overzealous marketing of this culture is infact destroying indigenous culture, artforms, and ideologies across the world the same way humans have destroyed whole environments for developement"
Other countries and peoples, though they do not have the Liberty and Freedom Americans have, are still free enough to decide how much of their culture, artforms and idealogies they retain or forfeit. I've always disagreed with the statement that America is a "melting pot" .... more like a tossed salad. There are many things which constitute a "culture," like ideologies and form of government; America has had a culture since it's inception.
I won't even go into the "destroyed whole emvironments" issue with you, though I have much info I'd share with you off-forum (because of the rules for posting,) but I'd willing to send you some info, and we could go from there. Your call. Many people refuse to acknowledge facts from sources if it differs with their mindset and teachings. I'm not putting you in that category.. just making a point.

my above post double-posted, so I wrote this in it's place. Sorry.

[edit on 14-7-2005 by zappafan1]

[edit on 14-7-2005 by zappafan1]

I don't know why you don't face up to the fact that French is a dead language, everybody speaks English as a second language . French I'm afraid is destined the same way as Latin.

Well if the French are suing the Japs for insults, then us Brits would be paying damages for a million years! LMAO!

What do you call a dead French general killed in battle?.... Napoleon Blownapart.

Why do French flagships have glass bottoms.... so the Admiral knows where his fleet is.




[edit on 14-7-2005 by rustiswordz]

[edit on 14-7-2005 by rustiswordz]

Originally posted by intrepid
Dude, are you Canadian? I am and it isn't bothering me any.

BTW what has any of this got to do with the topic?

No Im not Canadian, that is an example of how French is a dieing language. You dont need to protect something that isnt in danger of dieing out.

Bulldog and Flyer - What do you expect us French and French Canadians to do? Stop defending our culture, because, jeez, our language isn't all-conquering like English so automatically it means it's dying?

Rustisworlz - those jokes have been told a hundred times over. Do you have anything else to contribute?

EDITED for typo



[edit on 15-7-2005 by Otts]

Originally posted by Otts
Bulldog and Flyer - What do you expect us French and French Canadians to do? Stop defending our culture, because, jeez, our language isn't all-conquering like English so automatically it means it's dying?

Rustisworlz - those jokes have been told a hundred times over. Do you have anything else to contribute?

EDITED for typo



[edit on 15-7-2005 by Otts]

Yes but only for you dear...

Well FredT, I can only suppose the vines aren't doing well this year in France, hence the law suit..

Dallas

Originally posted by HokkaidoHillbilly
Wow...I came in here expecting a good ol' Ishihara bashing for the racist, xenophobic prick he is and walk into people slinging mud over French Canadians...huh? I'm a triffle bit confused.

I'm completely with you. I mentioned in my last post that this whole thread seems to be OT for the most part. The original post says something about Japan, it's far right politicians and latent xenophobia. I'm not quite sure how France fits in, other than the subject of Ishihara's comment. Do we really need yet another France-bashing thread, people?

-koji K.